


Forgotten One

by nickijae



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Bonding Moments, Dick is sad, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I have no idea how to tag, I only write stories with happy endings, Memory Loss, Nobody remembers Dick or Nightwing, batbros, batfam, family means nobody gets left behind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2019-08-01 06:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16279781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickijae/pseuds/nickijae
Summary: Bludhaven officer, Dick Grayson knew that he could always count on his family no matter what. It was just kind of hard to depend on them when they and everybody else in the world had no clue who he or his alter ego was. Putting together the fractured pieces of his life would have been a lot easier if he hadn't been transferred to Gotham P.D.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a very dysfunctional family that a young man named Dick Grayson prided himself to be a part of. Yes, they were unconventional and most people would call them batty, but Dick loved his family, and despite the fact that they never actually said the words, he knew that they loved him too. 

Then, the ‘incident’ happened. And by incident, he means that he was outed as Nightwing in front of the whole world, and to preserve the secret identities of everybody he loved he became a spy. An Agent of Spyral. Sure, everybody he loved thought he was dead for a time, but he fixed that.  
Dick would love to say that the story ended there. That they had a happily ever after. That he skipped off into the sunset with his three brothers, his adopted father, and their butler. But that’s not what happened. In fact, what really happened was so much worse. Well, it could be better, depending on how you looked at it. On the bright side, he no longer had younger brothers constantly yapping about something annoying Bruce did. On the not so bright side, everybody in the entire world had no clue who he was.

Somnus Satellite had been no joke. It had erased every single memory of Dick Grayson ever existing. Dick knew that every mention of him in the manor was ignored. His room, his clothes that had been in the laundry, his picture on the wall. Dick had spied, and watched as all the irregularities were studiously ignored. He had even disguised himself as a Wayne Enterprises mailroom employee, and given Bruce his mail. He had hoped, that Bruce’s stubbornness would lead to the man he called ‘Dad’ to recognize him. To stubbornly remember the first lost boy he had adopted. There hadn’t even been a flicker of recognition.

That event had been the catalyst to sending Dick into a spiraling depression as he once again broke into tiny pieces. So, he did the only thing that he could think of. He joined an international circus. Not Haley’s because it would hurt too badly for Pop Haley to look at him blankly, but a lesser known circus. He quickly became the star attraction, and it allowed him to put the pieces back together. The picture was a little distorted and there were a few holes, but it was better than he could have hoped for.

He began to get this itch. An itch to fight crime. To make the world better. He started by stopping petty crime in the cities that the circus was stopped in. It wasn’t enough. So, he told the ringmaster that it was time for him to move on, packed his bags and flew into the New York international airport. From there, he bought a cheap car, thank you trust fund, and drove into Gotham. Once there, he broke into the Batcave and stole all of his Nightwing gear, as well as a few surplus items. Bruce would never miss them. He was just glad that biometrics still gave him access to the Batcave. He supposed that that had something to do with the fact that the whole family ignored anything that had to do with him, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He was just happy.

Once he had his stuff, he once again was on the road. This time, to Bludhaven. He had doctored his police record so that he had served in Star City P.D., going as far as to research superiors and and leave reference numbers. Of course, he tapped said superior's phone lines and using a voice changing program Tim created, mimicked their voices. He tried to be honest though. Said that he was a good kid with an honest heart. That he did great undercover work, and was an even better detective. That he was honest to a fault, and knew how to deal with grieving families. That he could be rash and impulsive. That he sometimes had a hard time following orders he didn’t agree with. That while he knew how to deal with failure, at times things got too much for him. 

He got the job. He was now, officially, a Bludhaven cop working under the homicide division. Okay, so he might have given himself a slight promotion, sue him. He would start on Monday, with his new, or rather old, partner, Amy Rohrbach. It would be hard, being paired with Amy again when she obviously didn’t remember him, but he would manage. He always did.   
For now, Dick went to his old apartment building and ‘cleaned’ his dusty apartment. It wasn’t nearly as clean as Alfred would like, but it would do. It was nice to be in a familiar place. Even if siad place held more memories of his brothers than he realized. He was just glad that he still had clothes in the closet. Wait, scratch that, his pants were about an inch too short and his shirts were too tight at the shoulders. Guess Bruce was right, he had had one last growth spurt. 

Dick found himself reaching for his phone to tell the man just that. He caught himself before he could press call, realizing with a start that he couldn’t. That Bruce would have no clue who he was. Probably would think he was a delusional stalker. That thought alone made him want to cry, and he found himself wishing that he could call Wally or Roy or anyone else to combat the loneliness. Instead, he chucked his phone as hard as he could against the wall, grabbed his keys and wallet, and slammed the door. He couldn’t dwell in the past. He couldn’t dwell on how horrible things were. How he wished that he could go back and change things so that at the very least, his family remembered who he was. He couldn’t do anything about it, so it was probably best not to think about it.

###

Nightwing made his first appearance in Bludhaven about three months after Dick Grayson reported for duty. It would be too suspicious if they both showed up in the city within the same week, but that didn’t make not putting on the costume every night any easier. He tried to busy himself with other things. Like making friends with Amy. It was much easier the second time around when he wasn’t an annoying Rookie. It also helped that he knew which topics to avoid asking her about. Sadly, she didn’t have the same help. She asked him within the first ten minutes about his family, and what they thought about him being a Bludhaven cop. His answer was to look her in the eyes and say, “They probably wouldn’t be too thrilled if they were alive for me to tell them.” Amy didn’t ask any questions for a while after that. Dick felt kind of bad for shutting her down that hard, but family was the one topic that he didn’t want to speak about.   
Soon, it was clear that the Bludhaven vigilante was there to stay. Dick couldn’t help but sport a secretive smile every single time that he heard the other cops speak about the mysterious Nightwing. He knew how dangerous this game was, but Bludhaven’s crime rates had dropped significantly before he was forced to leave the city, and now that he was back, they were continuing to drop. Amy had even commented that for the first time, she wasn’t asking whether or not everybody she met was dirty. Dick was able to feel something akin to pride because of that. 

Another five months went by before the first Leaguer came by to investigate. It left Dick in something equivalent to shock. Apparently, although nobody remembered Nightwing from before Somnus Satellite, and they ignored all evidence of his past existence, they didn’t or couldn’t ignore current evidence. Which means, they had been tracking his movements as Nightwing. Dick didn’t know whether or not he should laugh or cry. He could have parts of his old life back, if he played his cards correctly. But would it really be worth it? To be an observer of the Bat Clan and not an actual member? No. It probably wouldn’t. 

It was for that reason, when he saw Hal Jordan on the rooftop, using his ring to make a ‘Nightwing Signal’ (which was awesome by the way), he ignored it. It became harder and harder to ignore, however, as the week went on. It became impossible, when Green Lantern himself walked into the Police Department and slammed his hands down on the front desk.   
The receptionist let out a small squeal and looked up at him with wide eyes. Seeing that Hal was about to lay into her, Dick slid up next to them and gave his most charming smile. “Hey. Is there anything that I can help you with?”

Hal seemed to be sizing him up, so Dick didn’t even fidget. He had been born in the circus, he had learned to read bodies from a very young age. Not to mention, he had grown up on the receiving end of Batman’s glare. Nothing was quite as scary as that. Much to every heroes and villain’s disappointment. 

Hal seemed to find what he was looking for because he deflated slightly. “I need to speak to the local hero, uh, Wingnut? Or Nightfeather? Birdbrain?”

Dick raised a single eyebrow and gave his most ‘I’m unimpressed’ look. It had nothing on Alfred’s but it would do. The thought of the gentlemanly butler sobered up any playful mood that he had been in. That, and the fact that Jason used to call him all those nicknames and more on a nightly basis before this whole mess. Letting out a deep sigh, Dick pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think you mean Nightwing. Look, why don’t I get coffee and a donut from the break room, and then we can have a talk at my desk.”

“I don’t want, or have time for, a donut and coffee, kid.”

Dick rolled his eyes as he turned around and headed for the break room. “Good. I wasn’t offering. They were for me. Oh, and stop calling me kid. Nobody’s a kid in Bludhaven.”

Dick really wanted to do a small happy dance when Hal didn’t offer up a ready reply. Instead, he settled on doing a mini fist pump and whispering, “Nailed it.” 

###

Dick took his time getting back to Hal. In fact, some small part of him took vindictive pleasure in watching Hal squirm slightly in the hard chair across from his desk. Sighing to himself, Dick squared his shoulders and plopped down in his chair, careful not to spill his coffee. 

“So, if you’re looking for Nightwing, I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place.” Dick added to the air of nonchalance by spinning his desk chair in lazy circles as he spoke. 

Hal did not seem nearly as amused as Dick was. Perhaps, Dick had let him stew for too long. Oops. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of him for a week. He hasn’t been answering my call. Is he taking the week off or something?”

“Not as far as I know. Crooks are still showing up bound in front of the Police Station. And the ‘anonymous tipper’ is still calling in. Have you considered the fact that he doesn’t want to talk to you?”

“Why wouldn’t he want to talk to me? I’m awesome!”

Dick shrugged, a playful smile dancing across his lips. “I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want to do the whole Justice Friends thing. Or maybe, he was hoping that Batman or Superman would come instead of one of, what three, Green Flashlights. Not that I know anything. I’m just a cop in Bludhaven. You probably can’t trust a word I say, I hear that we’re all dirty.”  
Dick really wanted to burst out laughing as Hal’s face steadily turned reder. Instead, he congratulated himself for thinking to set up spy cameras on and around his desk. The footage would be gold. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would one day be able to share it with his brothers. Jason would adore him calling Hal a flashlight. Sadly, he really didn’t see that happening any time soon.

“You’re extremely annoying. I want to talk to your boss.”

Amy walked up then, and Dick made a show of jumping slightly when her hands latched onto his shoulders with a death grip. He gave her a sheepish grin, and pretended to be cowed when she glared. He could see the amusement dancing in her eyes, which didn’t help Dick in the process of actually feeling guilty. 

“I see my partner is driving you up the wall, unfortunately, he does that to everybody. I think it’s a show of affection. Nobody raised him right. Now, what can I do for you?”

Dick had to bite back the snarl at the implication. He was raised right. He was raised by the two best men he knew, and wow, they really sounded like a couple when he put it that way. “I’m looking for a way to contact Nightwing. He’s not answering the way they do it in Gotham.”

“Look. I know you hero types aren’t actual cops or detectives—” Hal looked like he was about to interject, probably to say that he was a space cop, but Amy shot him a glare that would have had Bruce nodding his head in approval. “But here we don’t draw conclusions without solid evidence. There have been no sightings of this so-called Nightwing. The only thing that we have to go on are the crooks that are left gift-wrapped outside. I highly doubt that a bunch of rapists and thieves are sound witnesses. Sure there are a few citizens that claim they saw a flash of blue, but that’s about all we have to go on. Perhaps, nobody answered your call because there is nobody to answer it.”

Amy gave Hal one more appraising look before nodding firmly. “Sorry we can’t be of more help. Go back to your spaceship or whatever.”

Hal left with the air of someone trying to make a dramatic exit, but simply not succeeding. Probably because nobody in the Police Station cared. The second that he was out of sight, Dick held up his hand for a high five, a large grin on his face. The grin dropped the second he saw the look on Amy’s face.

“What’s going on? Did one of Gotham’s villains manage to make it over the river again?”

Amy’s lips twitched minutely before once again settling in a grimace. “Have you seen the news?”

Dick frowned, trying to think when he last checked his phone or looked at a TV. “No. I’ve been talking to the guy in spandex for the last half hour, and before that I was in the break room avoiding said man in spandex, and before that I was doing paperwork for the robbery we stopped, and before that we were stopping the robbery, and before that—”

“Shut it Grayson. There was a major bombing in Gotham.”

Dick was out of his seat faster than he thought was possible. “What! Is everybody okay? What’s the casualty report?”

“Calm down Grayson. Do you know someone in Gotham or something? You transferred from Star City.”

Dick bit his lip and quickly went through all of the lies he had told Amy about his past. “My folks and I were driving through Gotham when we had an accident. They died. I was put into the system. I grew up in Gotham.”

Amy raised a single eyebrow. “I’ve heard bad things about foster care in Gotham. It’s almost worse than the system here. How’d you turn out so good?”

“Who said I grew up in the system? Or that I was put into foster care?”

Amy opened her mouth, probably to ask further questions, then paused. Dick knew that his facial expression clearly read ‘I don’t want to talk about this at all’, and Amy was kind enough to back off. Some small part of Dick’s brain reminded him that Bruce would be displeased by how easy his body language was to read. The larger part of Dick’s brain kindly told the small part to shut the fuck up in a voice that sounded eerily similar to Jason’s. And now he was talking to different parts of his brain. Great. He’s definitely insane.

Amy looked at him concerned, and Dick waved her off. “The bombing?” He prompted. It was kinda dirty using a bombing to get her mind off of his tragic backstory, but as Wally would always say, don’t hate the player, hate the game. 

“Right. They hit Gotham P.D. Hard. A lot of cops are dead or injured Dick.”

“Is Commissioner Gordon alright?”

Dick couldn’t help but feel a smidgen of panic. He had spent so many days and nights at the Gordon’s house. He had loved Babs at one point, and Jim Gordon had always been supportive of them. In many ways, Jim Gordon was the kind of cop Dick strived to be. The man had literally seen him grow up, as Dick Grayson, and while he didn’t know it, as Robin. It would be tragic if the man who had reformed the Gotham P.D. died, and Dick wouldn’t even be invited to the funeral.

Amy once again looked at him funnily, but then shook her head. Probably trying to convince herself that he wasn’t acting as strangely as she thought he was. “He made it out. Last I heard, he had a broken arm, a burned leg, and a cut that needed some stitches. He requested that other cities send help. Our police commissioner has chosen a select few to transfer to the Gotham P.D. until the dust dies down.”

Dick suddenly knew where this was going. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because he chose people who have no real ties here. People who don’t have families. People who can just go to Gotham with minimal fuss. He chose you, Grayson. Congratulations, you made Detective, and along with a small increase in pay, you are also receiving a transfer to the other side of the river.”

“What are you saying?”

Amy gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m saying, that you are officially Detective Dick Grayson of the Gotham City P.D. Pack your bags, you start Monday.”

Dick sank back down into his chair, a stunned look on his face. He never wanted to have to return to Gotham. To see his brothers and father without them actually seeing him. But now, he didn’t have a choice in the matter. He was going home, whether he liked it or not.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Commissioner Jim Gordon sat in the white sterile, hospital room an open file strewn across his lap. Pictures of the transfers from the other departments smiled up at him, but Jim was looking for one particular file. Richard Grayson. Something about this man bothered Jim. It was probably the fact that moments after he had requested that other police departments, his partner had called and recommended him. She had said that Grayson was too honest for a city like Bludhaven. That they were not ready for a cop like him.

It made Jim think of when he was the only honest cop in the entire Gotham P.D. How careful he had to be. How dangerous it was when nobody had your back. He had accepted Grayson for that reason alone, but now he was wondering if he was correct in that call. Grayson worked in Bludhaven. And his past was spotty at best. Not even his partner was able to divulge much information on that front. Had only really been able to say that he had shut down after she questioned how his family felt about him being a cop in Bludhaven. That was not normal behavior for partners. Partners tended to know everything about each other. He was keeping secrets for a reason, and Jim could name a lot more negative incentives than positive.

Nevertheless, he was inclined to give the young man the benefit of the doubt. He had nothing but positive remarks in his file. It was probably just his imagination. Working in Gotham tended to make you think zebras and not horses when you heard hoof steps. That, and he was going stir crazy in this damn hospital bed. He needed to be out there. To be with his officers. To give them the support and courage that they undoubtedly needed right now. But he was stuck. In a hospital bed. Waiting for doctors that didn’t seem to understand the importance of him leaving. Waiting for any information that a nurse could give him about one of his injured officers. He was just waiting.

In the corner of the room, a shadow moved. Jim looked up, not even shocked by the sudden appearance of Batman. If he was being truly honest with himself, the Bat had become a friend to him. It was something that had been entirely unexpected, and when he had had the sudden realization, he had been shook. He had never agreed with the man’s tactics, or the existence of Robin, but he did think that the man was entirely necessary in a city like Gotham. 

“Jim.”

“Batman.” Jim struggled to sit up straighter, and the Bat moved closer to read the medical chart hanging at the foot of his bed. He wondered if any of it actually made sense to the man, or if he was just doing it for show.

“You should be out of here in two or three days. From what I can tell, they’re worried about the burns and one of the lacerations got infected. They’ve added some antibiotics and Acetaminophen to your IV.”

“Any chance you got something that can speed it up?”

Batman’s lips quirked into a small smirk, and Jim felt a shiver go down his spine. That was probably the closest thing to a smile he would ever see from the Dark Knight. He wasn’t sure he wanted another one. “No. Not unless you count experimental alien technology or a butler who forces you to maintain bedrest by tying you to the bed.”

Jim let out a small laugh. That had to be a joke. Right? “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Find out who bombed the Police Station. Whoever it is is still out there, and I can’t be sure that they’re done. Find out who it is before they can hurt anybody else.”

The whited out eyes of Batman’s cowl seemed to be staring into the very depths of his soul. After a minute passes, the man nodded his head. “Consider it done. I’ll make sure that Red Robin knows that this case takes priority unless there is another Arkham breakout.”

“Wait a moment. I’m sure you’re working on some pretty important things for the League. I don’t want to take your attention away from—”

Whatever else Jim was going to say was cut off by the realization that Batman was long gone. The only signs that he had even been there were the open window and the fact that the curtains were still fluttering.

###

Dick hated to admit it, but it took him less than a week to fall into a routine after his transfer to the Gotham P.D. He had decided to keep his apartment in Bludhaven, despite the fact that he now had to commute half an hour across the river. It was just better this way. He still had to be Nightwing in Bludhaven, and living there gave Dick Grayson a reason to return to Bludhaven every night. 

Besides, he had worked way too hard to rig up his apartment with traps and hidden compartments just to give it up. It was his home. Or at least his third home. The Manor would always be the first, and Titans Tower was his second. He just wished that he could go to either place. He supposed that if he had accepted Hal’s offer, he could at least visit the Tower, but it wouldn’t be the same. And he didn’t want to go if it couldn’t be the same.

He was just glad that he could take out his frustrations on criminals as Nightwing. Last night, he had stopped three burglaries, five stabbings, and a bank robbery. He had left all the perpetrators outside the Police Station with a sticky note detailing their crimes and signed with a simple smiley face. It was pretty good work for a single night’s work. Sadly, it meant that he had only managed to fall into bed around four a.m. 

By the time that his alarm went off at six, Dick wished that he had some way of getting a full eight hours of sleep in two hours or less. He rolled out of bed and onto the floor with a loud groan. Reaching up, Dick fumbled to turn off the alarm, while simultaneously sniffing at his armpits. He reeked. He knew he should have taken a shower the night before, but he probably would’ve fallen asleep while he lathered up.

Staggering to his feet, Dick hobbled his way to the shower. He only had like five minutes to get clean and wake up. Good thing that Bruce had taught him the art of military showers. He was clean and ready after two minutes, and spent his remaining three leaning his forehead against the shower wall.  
Changing quickly into a dress shirt and pants, he clipped his gun and badge to his belt. Glancing at the time, he grabbed his travel mug filled with warm and delicious coffee and a box of cereal for the road. 

Exiting his apartment, Dick fumbled with his keys momentarily, locked his door, and ran down the stairs to his awaiting car. It took him longer than usual to get to Gotham due to an accident on the bridge, but Dick still made it with plenty of time to spare. Stopping briefly at the warehouse serving as the P.D.’s temporary headquarters, Dick smiled at him new colleagues. They didn’t smile back.

Dick knew that he was an outsider. He was from Bludhaven, a place notorious for being even more corrupt than Gotham. There was no doubt in his mind that they thought he was dirty too. He would just have to prove that he wasn’t. That was okay. He had spent his whole adolescence proving people wrong. He could do it again, no problem.  
Leaving the warehouse, Dick started his usual patrol rounds. Technically, he was a homicide detective, but things had been quiet since the bombing. Dick knew that Gotham criminals tended to lay low after major events due to the fact that all the Bats were out and even more vigilant than usual. However, it was only a matter of time before things picked back up again. Until then, he would satisfy himself by stopping by high risk targets. Like the one bank that everybody always seemed to rob.

Dick walked in, and smiled at the girls working the counters. Seeing as it wasn’t busy, Dick chatted with one of them, stealing a few lollipops while he was at it. The girl noticed and shooting him a conspirtal smile that Dick easily returned.

His flirting was interrupted by a familiar laugh. From the corner of his eye, Dick saw Bruce enter the bank closely followed by Tim. Dick ignored them, instead choosing to continue to flirt.   
They didn’t know who he was, and leaving abruptly would only draw attention to himself. So instead of freaking out like he wanted to, Dick stuck a lollipop in his mouth, his smile never waning. 

His phone rang, breaking whatever sense of concentration he had and causing him to jump slightly. He lacked his usual grace as he fumbled for his phone. “Grayson.”

“We have reports of a dead female body near Crime Alley. Person who called it in said that she’s a stripper that goes by Candy Cane.”

“Any idea who called it in?”

“No. Welcome to Gotham.”

Dick stared down at his phone. The guy just hung up on him. Rude. Did the guy really think that people in Bludhaven were all that different? There, you were lucky if someone called in a dead body. Normally, the police just stumbled upon them themselves. 

Dick gave one last forlorn look at the bowl of lollipops, deciding that two more couldn’t hurt. “Hate to cut this short, but duty calls. I’ll see you another time.”

Dick did not miss the way that both Bruce and Tim’s eyes followed him on his way out. They had seen his badge, and undoubtedly they were more than a little curious about what was going on. Too bad all the servers were down and they were keeping paper records for the time being. Batman would have no clue about this case unless someone made him aware. And that someone was certainly not going to be Dick.

It took ten minutes to drive to the crime scene, even with the lights and sirens on his car blaring. Granted, nobody in Gotham really cared for lights and sirens, so he all in all, he made good time. Besides, it wasn’t like the body was going anywhere. Not that Bruce would agree with him. Bruce was always mad that he didn’t seem to think rushing to a murder victim was all that important. Dick just didn’t see the precedence of rushing off to the side of somebody that could no longer get up and walk away. And it wasn’t like they would know that he hadn’t rushed to their side.

When he got there, a M.E. was beginning to examine the body. Dick saddled up next to him, listening as the man described what he saw to a tape recorder. Surveying the alley that Candy Cane was found in, Dick squinted. Something was off. “Did you find her like this?”

The M.E. paused. “I moved her a little to check for preliminary cause of death.”

“Can you move her back?”

The M.E. shrugged, but carefully repositioned the body so that she was staring blankly down the alley. Something was wrong. He just couldn’t see it. Kneeling on the ground, Dick bent over so that his head was right next to hers and looking in the same direction. There.

Dick scrambled to his feet, already walked down the alley as the flustered M.E. called out, “Uh? Detective? What are you doing?”

Dick waved him over and pointed. “Look. It’s still wet. She was positioned so that she was looking at it.”

On the dirty alley wall, the words ‘NO FUTURE FOR YOU’ were inscribed in white paint. Dick nodded down at the camera used for crime scene photos. “Mind taking a few shots of that? I think they might be connected. Oh, and you mentioned preliminary cause of death?”

“Her neck was snapped. Whether or not he did that here, or somewhere else is your job, Detective. Name’s James Avery by the way.”

“Richard Grayson, but everybody calls me Dick.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Dick smiled and shrugged, used to that response by now. “Not really. Makes everybody smile and laugh.”

James laughed, and shook his head before gesturing to his assistant to load the body in the van. He just about walked away when Dick called his name. “What?”

“You ever seen this before? The writing?”

“No. But you should ask the other detectives. I would say go check the evidence lockup, but all evidence was destroyed when the P.D. blew up.”

Dick nodded and watched him go. As soon as the van turned around the corner, Dick’s eyes were drawn back to the white letters. The paint was still wet. Which meant that if the killer did write it, he had been there within the last few hours. Maybe Bruce was right, and he should rush to the side of murder victims.

###  
Nightwing sat on the edge of the tallest building in Bludhaven, his feet swinging as he thought about the day’s events in Gotham. Nobody had ever seen the creepy writing on the walls of other crime scenes. However, there had been two other strippers murdered with their neck snapped within the last month. A woman that went by Strawberry, and a guy that went by Pharaoh. Their real names were still a mystery, as nobody had come forward to claim the bodies.

He couldn’t be sure that all the murders were linked, but Dick was going to go to the previous crime scenes tomorrow and see if perhaps the writing on the wall was there too. He wouldn’t bet his inheritance on it, but he was pretty damn sure that the writing was some kind of signature. And the crime scene looked too precise and clean to be anyone’s first attempt at murdering someone. Or at least that’s what Jason would say. His brother would know. Being a previous crime lord and all that.

It was a pretty quiet night. Nightwing didn’t like quiet nights. They led to a lot of internal compilation. He contemplated enough as it was. He didn’t need to think about whether or not he made the right choice by ignoring the Green Lantern’s request to talk, or whether not trying to convince Bruce of his existence would be the biggest regret in a line of pretty big regrets. Or perhaps, he should start small and try to convince Superman. The man was nice enough to, at the very least, give him the benefit of the doubt and look into it. In the end, contemplation got him nowhere except miserable, which is why he often chose to act without thinking.

Which is what he did thirty minutes later when he spotted Amy walking to her car. He just swooped down, grabbed her around the waist, and then swooped back onto the rooftop. When he heard Amy’s scream, he realized that he probably should have given the idea a little more thought. Just a little. It really was not one of his finest moments.

“Sorry. I forgot that normal people aren’t expecting things like that to happen.”

Amy glared at him and put her hands on her hips. “And you are?”

Nightwing thought back to when Robin would swoop out of nowhere and land on his shoulders, or when Batman would suddenly just grab him and grapple away. He kind of was ready for it. Even now. So he just grinned and shrugged, like that was a normal answer. Like he wasn’t hurting by just absentmindedly thinking about his family. 

Amy seemed to belatedly realize who she was talking to, and took a moment to survey him. Nightwing stood stock still, the easy grin still on his face. She deserved a chance to observe the myth. He was just glad that she wasn’t shooting at him. She had every right to after the stunt he had just pulled. 

“Why did you grab me?”

Nightwing took a moment to answer that, instead choosing to look over the city. “I had an informant inside the P.D. He allowed gave me access to the case files I needed. In return, I helped find the evidence for, and capture the people that he couldn’t get due to the number of corrupt individuals in Bludhaven. You may have noticed them gift wrapped on the steps outside the   
P.D.”

Amy stared him down, and Nightwing almost felt like it was Wonder Woman giving him a lecture, or Black Canary patiently scolding him. He missed them. Missed how maternal they acted towards him despite the fact that he was Batman’s son and Batman didn’t like anybody else parenting his partner. It was almost cute how jealous the man got. Like he actually wanted to be the one to scold him for goofing off or for not listening.

“What’s that got to do with me?”

This was the move that required more thought than he originally thought. He paused, once again weighing the pros and cons. Amy probably thought he was pausing for dramatic effect. He wasn’t above admitting that she was partially right. “It was Dick Grayson.”

Amy’s mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. “What? Why? I thought he was clean!” Looked like she found the words she wanted.

“He was clean.”

“Than why the hell would he talk to you!”

Nightwing sighed and looked up at the sky. “He told you that he grew up in Gotham, right?” Nightwing barely paused long enough for her to nod, already knowing the answer. He was the one who had told her, after all. “He grew up in a city that was pretty much forsaken by the rest of the world, with a police department that was just as corrupt as Bludhaven’s. He watched as Commissioner Gordon teamed up with Batman to save the city. He was just trying to do the same thing here. Trying to do some good.”

Amy was still frowning, but Nightwing knew that he had won when Amy sighed and seemed to deflate. “Fine. Why me?”

Nightwing shrugged. “Grayson said that you’re the cleanest cop that he knew. ‘Cleaner than one of Bruce Wayne’s brand new cars’ was the exact terminology used.”

Amy grumbled, and shook her head, but Nightwing could see the fond look in her eyes. “Let’s say I agree, what am I supposed to do?”

“At a drop spot at your choosing, leave case notes of cases that you think you’ll never get an arrest on due to corruption. I’ll check it every night. If you don’t leave anything, than I’ll just patrol the city. If you do, I’ll work on gathering the evidence you need for a conviction. If you want to make the arrest, that’s your choice. Otherwise, I’ll just leave them tied up on the steps as usual. Let me be clear about something. You make the terms in this relationship. Not me.”

“Fine. There’s a loose brick on the corner of my building. I used to pull it out and leave hidden notes for my kids. They haven’t checked in years, so I doubt they will start now. Nobody will think twice if I leave something there.”

Nightwing grinned. “Thank you.” He really wanted to hug her, but something told him that if kidnapping her off of the sidewalk didn’t earn him a bullet, hugging her sure would. 

“Great. Now can you get me down from here?”

Nightwing nodded, and swung her down hastily. There was no way that he was wasting Amy’s good will. Besides, he still needed to patrol the city before he retired for the night. And he really wanted to get more sleep than he had the night before. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow.

###

Dick sat in his very uncomfortable chair tapping his pen against his face thoughtfully. So far, James the M.E. hadn’t been able to find anything on the body to suggest that she had been moved. He had also determined that the preliminary cause of death was indeed the actual cause of death. A snapped neck. Somebody had snapped that girl’s neck. He just wished that could have helped her. He was sure that she had been terrified, and he just wished that she hadn’t spent her last moments scared of what was coming her way.

Dick was snapped out of his morbid musings when a throat cleared next to him. Dick looked up to see Commissioner Jim Gordon sitting across from him in a wheelchair. Dick scrambled up to his feet, dropping everything and probably making a giant fool of himself. When he was finally on his feet, Dick stuck his hand out to shake, scratching the back of his neck nervously at the same time.

The Commissioner let out a small laugh, clearly amused by Dick losing what little was left of his dignity. “Sir! Um, I thought you were going to be in the hospital for another few days. Is there anything I can help you with, uh Sir?”

Dick inwardly cringed. He had known that at some point he was going to meet the Commissioner. He had known. He had just thought that he would have a few more days. A few more days to get used to the fact that he was going to be interacting with a man daily who used to know him almost as well as Bruce did. To get used to the fact that said man would have no clue who he was. He had clearly not gotten used to the idea yet. So here he was, stumbling over his words and making a fool of himself. Again. Great. Just great.

“I could use coffee. The one from down the street. Take a walk with me, Grayson.”

“Yeah. Of course. Would you like me to push you, uh I mean your chair?”

The Commissioner looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and then looked down at his arm which was in a cast. “If you don’t mind.”

Dick smiled, and pushed the Commissioner out of the warehouse and down the street to the small coffee shop. He briefly wondered how the Commissioner had gotten in front of his desk, concluding that someone had pushed him there while he was still deep in thought. Bruce would scold him for his lack of observational skills. Alfred would remind him to use his manners.  
Dick parked the Commissioner at the back table before going up to the counter and ordering two coffees and a couple of pastries. Dick would eat them all if the Commissioner didn’t eat one. He had forgotten his travel cereal this morning, so all he had eaten was a half-melted lollipop, that may or may not have gone through the washing machine. 

Juggling his orders, Dick made his way back to the awaiting Commissioner, only slightly nervous about the reason for this meeting. Okay, really nervous. The Commissioner didn’t speak, so Dick just sat down and sipped at his coffee and ate his bear claw. Finally, the Commissioner cleared his throat. “You settling in okay, Grayson?”

Dick bobbed his head, already cursing himself for acting like such an idiot. “Yeah. The commute’s pretty good. I got my first case. City’s inhabitants are pretty nice, or at least nicer than the ones in Bludhaven.”

“I heard that there is a new vigilante in the city. How’s that going?”

Dick raised a surprised eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. “You want me to tell you about Bludhaven’s resident vigilante, Nightwing?”

“I want you to tell me what you think of him.”

Dick ran a hand through his hair before taking another sip of his coffee. “Are you asking me what I think of Nightwing? Or of Batman?”

“I’m asking what you think of vigilantes.”

“I think that while they are technically breaking the law, in cities like this one, like Bludhaven, they are necessary. I think that they can do things that we, as cops, cannot do within the scope of the law.”

The Commissioner took a sip at his coffee. Dick really hated the fact that he wasn’t talking. He hoped that he had answered the man’s question correctly. It had to be the right answer, considering the fact the man lit up the giant Bat Signal whenever the cops needed help. 

After what seemed like forever, but was most likely only a few seconds, the Commissioner nodded. “Okay then. Welcome to the Gotham P.D. Richard.”

Dick found himself nodding a small smile playing on his lips. “Okay then. Call me Dick.”

The Commissioner’s mustache twitched, which Dick knew meant that he was amused. He just smiled ignorantly, as if he didn’t realize that his name was an endless source of amusement to other people. Immature people. Like Jason. People who couldn’t understand that he wasn’t about to get rid of the nickname that his father gave him, despite how outdated it was. 

He would, however, continue to drink his coffee and eat his pastries. He had multiple crime scenes to visit later and cops to question. He would enjoy this moment of peace for as long as he could. If he pretended, really pretended, it would almost be like any number of the Sunday brunches he had had with Commissioner Gordon. And that thought, provided a small level of comfort. Despite how fleetingly it lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the second chapter. If you are impatiently waiting for an update, FF.net has more chapters available. On a different note, I want to know what you guys think of the new TITANS (I haven't seen it yet). I would also like to know what you guys think about the whole Rick versus Dick thing. Personally, I don't think that changing his name is a good idea. 
> 
> LEAVE COMMENTS!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Red Robin quietly opened the window leading to Jim Gordon’s home office. The man looked up, shocked that he was there. It wasn’t Red Robin’s fault. The Police Station had blown up, so he could no longer meet the man on the roof. And it wasn’t like the man knew the location of the Batcave.

“Red Robin. What can I do for you?”

“Batman told me that the bombing was a priority. I just wanted to update you on the case.”

The Commissioner just stared at him, so Red Robin took that as his signal to continue. “No real progress has been made on the case. All real evidence was blown up. We do however, know that most of the carnage surrounded the evidence lockup, which suggests that it is linked to one of the cases that you and your officers were working on.”

The man steepled his fingers and leaned forward. “I see. How can I help.”

“Your input on the crime scene would be appreciated. Perhaps you could tell us if any evidence boxes are missing.”

“Would if I could. Unfortunately, I’m not exactly mobile at the moment.”

For the first time, Red Robin really looked down at the Commissioner and noticed that he was sitting in a wheelchair. Batman would kill him if he ever found out that he had been so sloppy. That he hadn’t observed his surroundings fully. “Oh. Sorry. Perhaps you can send someone you trust.”

“All of them were injured or killed.”

Red Robin was silent for a moment, contemplating it. They needed a cop. One that wouldn’t shoot them in the back given the opportunity. Not that Batman would agree with them. His older brother would. No. Scratch that. Red Hood’s inner street kid hated cops.

“There must be someone.”

“There might be. There is a new cop from Bludhaven. We talked. He supports vigilantes. They have one in Bludhaven now, you know.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware that the rumors were confirmed. The League went to investigate, but found no real evidence. Talked to two cops too. Said they had no clue.”

“I used to say that Batman didn’t exist and that the giant flood light on the roof was just broken. Believe me, all rumors have a shred of truth to them. Maybe there is no mask in Bludhaven, but there is some sort of hero.”

###

Dick chewed on the end of his pen thoughtfully. Another stripper was dead, this time in Gotham Park. Dick wasn’t sure it was connected to Candy Cane’s murder. There was no weird sign this time, and it wasn’t in Crime Alley. Not that all stripper cases were automatically connected. He just had a feeling. And he never ignored his feelings. Not anymore.

It would have to wait though. Right now, the Commissioner was gesturing him to come to his ‘office’. Really, it was just a cordoned off area in the warehouse. Dick wished that he had his own private space. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite as loud then. Moral had really been up since the Commissioner had returned. Which was good.  
Dick just wished that he knew why he was getting called to the Commissioner’s office. Especially as everybody was looking at him as though he was about to get reamed. Like he was dirty and the Commissioner was going to fire or arrest him. Dick hated that. Hated that people thought that way of him. 

Dick let out a sigh as he was once again seated across from Commissioner Jim Gordon without the man so much as blinking in recognition. Logically, he knew that this would be the case, but it still hurt. Like being stabbed. And Dick had been stabbed before, so he could say that.

“Grayson. Glad you’re settling in okay.”

Dick stared at him. He tilted his head slightly, and he leaned back in his chair. “Sir? I hate to be rude, but I have two dead strippers that might be linked. There might be more, but I can’t be sure.”

“Are you suggesting that there is a serial killer on the loose, Grayson?”

“No. But I might be telling you that there is one in a few days. So far, there isn’t evidence to support my theory.”

The Commissioner leaned back in his chair, his eyebrows furrowing. Dick took that as a cue to continue. Apparently he wasn’t being clear. Wally and Roy would have gotten where he was going. Superman too. In fact, most people that he used to associate with would, probably because they knew him so well. “I have a feeling Commissioner. And I learned a long time ago not to ignore those.”

“Look into it. But I’m giving you another case. You will be working on who bombed the Station. I heard that the evidence locker was hit hard. I need you to sort through the rubble and see if anything’s missing.”

Dick frowned, and chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “There’s a reason you chose me specifically, isn’t there. It could be that I’m new to the force, and therefore unbiased. But that means that you have a reason to suspect that other officers would be biased. No. That’s not the reason, is it? And, you knew that the explosions were centered around the evidence lockup, which is strange, because I was told that nobody was allowed to go to the crime scene. And in your current condition, you certainly wouldn’t be able to. Which means that somebody else did for you. My guess, Batman. How’d I do?”

Commissioner Gordon smirked slightly and shook his head. “Oh, you two are going to get along famously. He tends to like intuitive people. Or ‘like’ them as much as Batman can like anybody.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’d like me more now than I was a kid. I had a pun phase. Something tells me that the puns would have driven him crazy.”

“I’m sure they would have. If you could look into that around dusk.”

Dick sighed, already thinking of how he could arrange his schedule so that that could work. Nightwing would not be able to catch Amy tonight. Not unless she was working the night shift. He would also have to start patrol late, probably end it late too. God, he probably wasn’t going to sleep tonight. It was going to suck. And that didn’t even factor in the fact that he was going to see a member of the Bat Clan tonight. A clan that he was supposed to be apart of. A Clan that would not only not recognize him, they had no clue that he existed at all. 

Giving the Commissioner a weak smile, Dick let out a small sigh. “I’m on it. Oh, and Commissioner? The copyright law is a statute of imitations.”

The last thing that Dick heard as he exited the office was the Commissioner’s quiet snort. Well, at least the Commissioner had found it funny. Bruce had just given him this look. The ‘I’m so exasperated with you right now’ look. Dick had received that look often, and he was oddly proud of that fact.They all contributed to a fond memory. At the moment, memories were all that he had. He’d cling to every single one of them. He’d need them tonight when he faced his family.

###

Dick pulled his coat closer to him as he stood in front of what remained of the Gotham Police Station. He had spent years hanging out on that roof in the shadows. Years hating the fact that he was in Batman’s shadow. And while he would never regret Robin, regret being a hero, he did regret all of the time he spent feeling hatred. At the time he wasted. He should have been a better older brother to Jason. He wished that he could tell Jason that all of that cold indifference and anger was not directed at the poor boy. That he was insecure and that he had been lashing out.

The building was in slightly better shape than Dick had originally thought. One wall still had structural integrity, and Dick hoped that meant that it would be fairly safe to pick through the rubble. He had looked through the evidence logs, and determined which cases, if any, were worth blowing up the whole damn station. Not to mention killing all of those cops. There weren’t many that he found to be that valuable. Granted, Dick didn’t feel the need to blow things up. Maybe the guy was just a pyromaniac. He doubted that that was the case in a city like Gotham, people here always had ulterior motives, but he vowed that he would keep his mind open.

Picking his way through the rubble, Dick was glad that he was wearing boots with a good tread. The last thing he needed was to fall on his face. Or ruin another pair of work shoes. Really, he was glad that all the training that Bruce had put him through would probably prevent him from breaking his ankle. Crutches were such an inconvenience. Which is why he prefered to walk on his hands instead of using the damn things. 

Dick paused when he arrived at what would have been the evidence locker. Everything was destroyed, and there was debris everywhere, making it hard to tell what had been evidence, and what was garbage. In the corner, Dick spotted a single shoe. Crouching down, he picked it up gently, noting that it was a standard size twelve police issued work shoe. The paramedics had probably left it behind when they had taken its owner. He hoped the guy was okay. That he was still alive. 

He could feel eyes on the back of his neck. They were watching him. Probably trying to figure out what he was doing. If he had seen something that they had missed. He reflexively clung to the shoe tighter as he called out to them. “You guys can come out. I’m not going to start shooting, destroy evidence, or bomb the place again. And while I do find myself to be quite hilarious, I don’t enjoy talking to myself.”

Dick didn’t even flinch as Red Robin materialized next to him and Batman behind him. They didn’t epeak. Didn’t make a move to introduce themselves. Not that Dick had expected them to. He had expected it to hurt when he saw them again. He just hadn’t known how much. Dick knew a lot about the world. Knew that magic, aliens, and gods were all possible. So he knew, without a fraction of a doubt, that when he felt part of his soul shrivel up and die, it really had shriveled up and died. 

Standing up to his full height, Dick noted that while he was still shorter than Batman, he was still a good head taller than Red Robin. “Dick Grayson. I assume that the Commissioner told you I was coming?”

Batman grunted, and Dick knew that that meant, ‘Yes, but I’m not happy that I am interacting with you without careful planning and preparation on my part.’   
Carefully his face blank, Dick turned to Red Robin. “I was told to look for any missing evidence boxes. As you can see, they are all completely destroyed scattering what’s left of the evidence everywhere. I looked into the cases, and from what I can tell, there weren’t many cases that would warrant this kind of response. And for the few that did, I find it highly unlikely that the perpetrators would bomb the Police Station.”

“Oh? Why would that be?”

“Well, all of the cases were worked by the Commissioner and you guys. There’s bound to be copies of the evidence in your hideout. And the people the cases were against, don’t seem to have a problem simply breaking out of jail. I doubt that they would blow up the Police Station to get rid of the evidence.”

Both men looked slightly impressed. Well, as impressed as Batman could look with an outsider. Dick had seen the man give the same look to Barry when the speedster had said something particularly smart. Really, Batman had probably assumed that he was dumber than a bag of rocks, and was therefore impressed that he could form a logical line of conclusion.

Batman moved, and Dick followed the movements with his eyes, knowing perfectly well that both men could read the wariness on his face. Good. He wouldn’t want them to realize that he was all too comfortable in their presence. The Bat crouched down, shifted some rubble, picked something up, and studied it. “Any clue what case this was for?”

Dick was handed a singed piece of paper, and looked over it carefully. It was a money trail. Leading to someone inside the P.D. That couldn’t be right. Someone inside the P.D. If this was a part of a case, than something was fishy. There shouldn’t be a case on a dirty cop kept here. “This isn’t a part of any case that was logged here.”

Red Robin turned to stare at him. Dick could practically see the cogs turning in his brain. “Is it possible that you were kept unaware for a reason? You were a Bludhaven cop.”

Dick felt like he should be insulted by that. He knew that Bats were paranoid, but come on, accusing a guy you just met of being dirty just because of what city he was from, that was just plain cityist. “The Commissioner gave me the files on what was kept here, so that I could wade through the rubble with you guys. I could have been home. Or better yet, I could have been on that date I had to cancel. And before you accuse me of blowing this place up, I was in Bludhaven. In fact, I was talking to your friend Green Flashlight, just in case you want to check my alibi.”

Dick knew his brother well enough to know that he was blushing. Dick couldn’t find it within himself to care. He was angry. He wasn’t even sure with who. In all likelihood, he was mad at himself for yelling. It wasn’t Tim’s fault that he was treating him so poorly. The guy didn’t remember him. Didn’t remember that Dick was his favorite older brother. Well, sometimes he was Tim’s second favorite older brother. The point was, it wasn’t Tim’s fault. And it wasn’t Bruce’s either. A fact that he had to continue to remind himself of as they all sifted through the rubble looking for more out of place evidence in uneasy silence. 

###

Nightwing felt unusually reckless as jumped and swung from rooftop to rooftop in the rainy Bludhaven night. Everything hurt. He needed a real friend right now. He needed Wally. Or Roy. Or anyone. He needed someone who knew the real him. That knew him inside and out. He needed his father.

He could try and talk to Amy. But she made it very clear that she really did not want to be associated with him. That she would associate with him only over cases. Nightwing had known that that would happen, but he still wished that it hadn’t. He needed a real friend right now. Needed someone who would listen to all of his problems and tell him that they didn’t matter in the long run and that everything would eventually be okay. 

He was almost glad when a scream rang out in the otherwise silent night. His musings were going down a dangerous path, and he was afraid of where they would go. He needed to keep his thoughts positive. Or at the very least, keep himself occupied enough that he didn’t have time to think.

It took him a moment to locate where the scream came from. What he saw, was a group of five men pinning a woman to the alley wall. Swan diving off of the roof he was on, Dick landed on the shoulders of one of the men, knocking him to the ground. “Now now. I know that some guys have a problem getting laid, but this is just desperate!”

The guys did not respond much to his disappointment. Nightwing kinda liked it when they tried to make a comeback. It was usually pathetic, but every once in awhile, they gave him a good quip. It was quip pro quo. Man, he wished he could share that one with Batman. He might’ve gotten an eyeroll for that one. He was hilarious!

It did not take him very long to immobilize the rest of the slimeballs and tie them up. Nightwing turned to face the woman with a smile on his face, immediately noticing that she was video taping him. He paused for a moment, trying to decide whether or not it was worth the trouble to take away her phone. She could be live streaming it, in which case the internet would see him wrestle a phone out of a screaming woman’s hand. Not the best image. On the flip side, he could possibly prevent her from posting a video, the only solid proof of his existence. 

He decided to play it safe. Despite how hard he tried, eventually evidence of his existence would come to light. It would be best if there wasn’t any negative press when that time came. Besides, he was not naive enough to think that Batman wasn’t already investigating whether or not Bludhaven had a new hero. He might as well get ahead of it.

Simply nodding his head, Nightwing grappled up onto the roof and disappeared into the night sky. She would be fine, and if a video of him surfaced, he would be fine too. He had other concerns to deal with. Like getting sleep before he dealt with his potential serial killer case. And potentially dealt with Batman again. 

###

Dick had just managed to fall into bed when someone started pounding on his door. Groaning, Dick fell out of his bed, and shuffled to the door. Hopefully, the fact that he was in his underwear wouldn’t be a problem. He wasn’t about to find a pair of pants and a shirt for whatever this was. 

When he opened the door, Amy rushed in, already spitting curses. Dick just blinked, his eyes following her, unsure of what was currently happening. “Amy? It’s three a.m.”

She turned to face him, and Dick could see the fire blazing in her eyes. Great. He was definitely not going to sleep now. “I stopped by earlier, and you weren’t here. Where were you?”

“I had to stay late in Gotham. The Commissioner has me working with Batman. He doesn’t keep normal hours you know.”

Amy paused and her eyes seemed to narrow. “Oh? So now you’re working with Batman? You must be living the dream. Made it up to the big leagues did you?”

“Amy. I don’t know if you realize this, but I had just gotten into bed when you started knocking, and I’m very tired. I’m going to need you to be more specific, because at the moment, I have no clue what is going on!”

“You worked with Nightwing. We’re partners, yet I had to find out from some mask that you were supplying him with information!”

Oh. That would explain her anger. He just wished that it had been a more reasonable hour. He really needed his beauty sleep. You didn’t look as effortlessly flawless as he did without a minimum of four hours of sleep a night. “Amy. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, but honestly, if the situations were reversed and you were doing something that would potentially get you arrested or killed if others were to find out, would you have told me? We were partners, yes, but I don’t know you. And you certainly don’t know me, so stop judging my actions.”

Okay. That may have come out slightly angrier than he had intended. He was sleep deprived. He got snippy when he was sleep deprived. It wasn’t his fault. Tim used to say that the only time that he wasn’t acting like Buddha was when he needed sleep. Dick had taken that as a compliment, instead of the small barb that it was meant to be. 

“Than tell me Dick. Tell me what happened to you that defined you. Tell me why you have such a big chip on your shoulder. Tell me why your pain is different than anyone else’s.”

Dick gave a self deprecating smirk. If only she knew. He went with a version of the truth instead. “I watched my parents get murdered at the age of eight. I got assigned a social worker who took one look at my ethnicity and stuck me in juvie with Gotham’s worst offenders. I didn’t speak much english and I was small for my age. In other words, I got my ass handed to me.”

Amy’s hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Dick, I—”

“I got out of there. I saw how Batman and the Commissioner made a difference. That’s when I decided I wanted to be a cop. Batman’s saved me from Two-Face before. He probably doesn’t remember, and he certainly wouldn’t recognize me, but he saved me. I just wanted to pay it forward in the only way I knew how. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, but telling you also meant telling you my life’s story and I wasn’t ready for that. And I certainly wasn’t ready to tell you right now, while I’m standing here in my boxers.”

“Dick. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come in here all hot-headed, and I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. I apologize. Now, you could probably use some rest. So I’ll get out of your hair.”

Dick followed her to the door, opening it quietly for her. She stepped out into the hall, and Dick was just about to close it when she spoke again. “Dick? Just because we’re not partners anymore doesn’t mean that you can’t call or text me. If nothing else, you can tell me about the crazy cases you’ve been assigned too. I hear Gotham’s filled with wackjobs.”

Dick cracked a small smile and waved at her before gently closing the door and locking it. Leaning against it, Dick took a moment to reflect. Amy was his friend. Even if she didn’t know about his alter ego, she was his friend. Maybe she wasn’t the friend that he really wanted right now, but he would just have to make do. At the moment however, his best friend was his bed, and that was were he was headed. He needed to sleep if he was planning on leaving his apartment in the morning looking like a human being.

###

Batman stared out the window of the Watchtower, waiting for the League members to shuffle in and take a seat. His three sons were scattered around the room, each wearing a blank expression, though he knew that their eyes were alert. They were ready for anything. They could handle anything. He had trained them well.

When all the Leaguers were finally seated, Batman walked over and stood behind his chair at the head of the table. “I called today’s meeting because I have found footage that supports rumors of a hero in Bludhaven. Despite what Green Lantern has lead us to believe, there is a mask there. As none of us has met him, I recommend that we take precautions until we know that he can be trusted.”

Green Lantern rolled his eyes and groaned loudly. “Is that really necessary, Bats? I mean what harm could one guy be? Doesn’t he return stolen purses or something?”

“That guy took out five armed men with minimal effort all the while protecting a civilian. He also displayed no blatant use of powers. Rumors say that he is just a man in a suit, which makes him all the more dangerous. Bludhaven is notoriously violent. Some would even go as far to that it is worse than Gotham. To be a hero without powers there requires something that the rest of you with powers cannot possibly comprehend.”

Superman put his hands up in what Batman supposed to be a placating gesture. “Now Batman, let’s take a step back. I’m sure that you wouldn’t want to offend anyone here.”

Robin snorted, and Red Hood actually started laughing. Batman’s lips curled. Right. He wouldn’t want to offend anyone. That didn’t sound like him at all. He was known for being sparing feelings and always being considerate. He wasn’t known for being gruff, emotionless, and unsympathetic towards others. Superman seemed to understand the thoughts going through his head, because he put his hands down and looked away. 

“As many of you asked about the Gotham bombing and I am tired of Superman’s nagging, I will tell you that we are making progress. We found discrepancies in the evidence in the police evidence lockup, and the cop we are working with will bring this to the attention of the Commissioner. We do not yet know if this is related to the bombing, however, Red Hood has looked at the debris and it seems that the evidence lockup was the main target. We’ll know more in the next few days.”

Batman shared a look with Red Robin, and the young man straightened slightly before striding up next to him and addressing the group. “Green Lantern, the cop we are working with says that he was with you at the time of the bombing. A Bludhaven transfer by the name of Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson.”

Green Lantern rubbed his chin for a second looking thoughtful. Suddenly he stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. “Wait! Does he have black hair, blue eyes, and is what most people would consider to be extremely attractive until he opens up his mouth and turns out to be extremely annoying? He called us the Justice Friends! He called me one of three Green Flashlights! He implied that Nightwing would rather talk to Batman or Superman over me! Me! I’m fantastic! Who wouldn’t want to talk to me? I’m handsome and charming and I always put the seat down after I finish using the toilet!”

Batman didn’t know how this man’s maturity level could be so low, and yet he was a hero. Nor did he understand why the whole damn League erupted arguing after his little speech was finished. Red Robin was the only one who simply murmured something about Grayson’s alibi checking out before he typed something on his wrist computer. Red Hood on the other hand was practically cackling. God help him if Red Hood suddenly had a interest in becoming Grayson’s friend. He probably wouldn’t survive it. Gotham certainly wouldn’t.

Rubbing at his temples, Batman allowed the squabeling to continue for a few moments before he yelled out, “Silence.” Everybody immediately quieted down and returned their attention to him. Good. They were once again acting like the world’s strongest heroes. “On to the next matter. Scientists recently found pieces of a destroyed satellite in the Pacific Ocean. They were able to determine that the satellite was destroyed before it entered the atmosphere. They don’t know who the satellite belongs to, or what’s its purpose was. Does anyone have any information that could shed some light on this situation?”

The meeting was concluded shortly after. Nobody had information about the satellite, but Batman couldn’t find himself caring. As long as it didn’t affect Gotham, it really wasn’t his problem. The government could ask Superman for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's chapter 3. Like I have said, if you can't wait for an update, there are more chapters available on FF.net. Hope you enjoyed!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dick stared at the crime scene with unblinking eyes. This wasn’t right. It hadn’t been like this before. There had been no graffiti at the crime scene previously. In fact, there had been no evidence at all when he had previously visited, so why did the side of the dumpster say, ‘NO FUTURE FOR YOU’? It wasn’t like the information had been released. In fact, Dick hadn’t even mentioned it to anybody. Which meant that the killer was the one who had written it there. But why would he go back to a flawless murder and leave behind evidence? It would only aide the police investigation. Unless he wanted to be caught. The sick son of a bitch wanted the murders to be linked and to receive credit for what he had done. 

Dick swore as he punched the nearest wall. Fuck. All of the strippers and prostitutes in Gotham were in danger until he solved this case. He hadn’t even figured out how they were all linked, or if they were even linked. He didn’t even know how many bodies he was dealing with! The only thing that he did know for certain was the fact that this killer wasn’t going to stop until Dick made him.

Taking a few photos of the crime scene on his smartphone, Dick surveyed the alley one more time for anything he might have missed. Satisfied with his assessment, Dick pulled a lollipop out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. He was going to need the sugar if was going to revisit all of his known and suspected crime scenes. It was bound to be a long day.

###

Dick flopped on his sofa. Nightwing had made a brief appearance in Bludhaven, but Dick had been too tired to patrol any longer. It was strange, on one hand, Dick felt ready to fall asleep at a moment’s notice, on the other hand, Dick’s mind wouldn’t stop thinking about serial killers killing strippers in the gloomy Gotham streets. 

Juggling his options, Dick decided to text Amy. She would probably soothe his fears better than any sleep aid could. 

Dick: I need a fresh pair of eyes on a case I’m working

Amy: I don’t work with you anymore Dick

Amy: You’re in the GCPD

Dick: Please. I need to find a link between these victims before more people get hurt

Amy: More people?

Dick: Please? I’ll explain more in person

Amy: Fine. Meet me at the diner by my apartment. You’re buying coffee

Dick gave a little fist bump as he scrambled to find his keys and jacket. It was never a good idea to keep Amy Rohrbach waiting on you. In fact, it was pretty much equal on the scale of bad ideas with dying Batman’s suit neon pink. Even though he had to run for his life, that had been the best April Fool’s prank he had ever pulled.

The door to the dingy diner opened with a small clingle. Dick spotted Amy seated at the table in the furthest corner. Tactically, it was one of the best seats in the diner because you could see whoever entered and exited, as well as the door to the kitchen. The best part, in Dick’s opinion, was that there was a vent cover on the wall behind the table, which made for an easy emergency exit.

Sitting down next to her, Dick wasted no time pulling out a file from his messenger bag. Opening it, he spread all the gruesome crime scene photos that he could gather. “I believe that there is a serial killer on the loose in Gotham. He’s killing both male and female strippers around the city by snapping their necks. I can’t figure out any commonality between the victims besides their occupations.”

Amy raised an eyebrow. “He?”

“Only fifteen percent of serial killers are female. I’m taking a guess and saying that the perpetrator is a male.”

“Any chance it’s not a serial killer and just a coincidence? Stripping isn’t exactly a low risk occupation.”

“Don’t I know it. But there is this graffiti at each of the crime scenes. It says, ‘NO FUTURE FOR YOU’ in white paint with all capital letters. Thing is, I went to crime scenes that I suspected might be linked, and the writing wasn’t there. I revisited them to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, and between the time that I had originally been there and when I came back, someone had written that phrase on whatever was convenient.”

“Is it possible that the news reported that detail and some creep went to all the locations strippers died at and wrote it? Like it was some sick joke?”

“I didn’t tell anyone about that detail. The only people who know are the medical examiner and the Commissioner. I just have this feeling that the person who committed these murders wanted them to be linked and was getting frustrated that the P.D. was treating them like individual homicides and not the work of a serial killer.”

Amy leaned back in her seat and chewed on her lip for a moment. Dick watched as her mind worked, possibly thinking of the most likely scenario. In a way, sitting here, so late at night, smell of coffee in the air, reminded him of going over case files with Tim. Though Amy sure was a lot nicer than his brother was. Tim tended to say ‘you’re wrong’ to every idea that Dick had. Granted, Tim tended to be a sleep deprived cinnamon roll, so Dick really couldn’t blame him.

Amy broke the silence by saying, “I think you may be on to something Grayson. But I don’t really know what you want me to do. We’re not in the same department anymore, so I really can’t help you with this. What I can tell you, is to go to the Commissioner and lay out everything the way you just did for me. I can also tell you to go home Grayson. Get some sleep. You’re working the bombing case too, right? You must be exhausted.”

Dick’s shoulders sagged, and suddenly he felt thirty years older than he actually was. Running a hand through his hair, Dick closed his eyes and gave himself to the count of five to pull himself together. He ended up counting to ten. 

“Yeah. I can’t catch a break. There was this burnt piece of paper in the evidence lockup. A money trail leading to someone inside the Gotham P.D. From what I can tell, they can’t figure out who the money’s going to. Granted, any and all evidence was burnt to a crisp. I asked the Commissioner, and he was extremely tight lipped about it. Either he has no idea, or it’s not something I was supposed to find. But I think that it’s linked. I just don’t want it to be.”

“But that would mean…”

“A cop might be the one who blew up the precinct.”

###

Dick was really glad that he had even considered putting Nightwing’s suit back on after returning from the diner. Otherwise, when he phone started blaring at three thirty in the morning, it would have been totally unbearable. As it was, it was still the worst thing that had happened to him since everybody forgot about his existence. 

Letting a loud groan, Dick reached for his phone blindly, attempting to keep his eyes closed until the last possible second. Peeling one eye open, Dick blinked at his phone blearily. Who would call at a time like this?

He sat up, instantly more awake when he realized that it wasn’t in fact someone calling him like he had assumed, but rather an alarm going off on his phone to alert him to the fact that someone had tripped one of the motion sensors at the remnants of the police station. Smirking, Dick turned on the cameras equipped with night vision. He had thought that it was possible that the perpetrator would revisit the crime scene, therefore he had set up motion sensors and cameras all around the rubble. He had placed the cameras and seasons so well that he doubted that even Batman could find them unless he knew to look for them. It also helped that they were the size of a small stud earring. 

Tapping his fingers in a slightly rhythmic pattern, Dick waited for the camera to pull up. When it did, he choked back a small gasp. It was a cop. The Commissioner had made it strictly forbidden to visit the ‘crime scene’, making it perfectly clear that the investigation would be handled by Batman and his slightly less brooding group of Robins. Granted he hadn’t quite worded it like that, but the point remained the same. 

Dick wasn’t sure why he was surprised that it was a cop. He had discussed the probability at length with Amy. Perhaps he had just been hoping beyond reason that no cop had been willing to hurt his fellow officers despite how crooked he was. Batman would say that he was being naive. Jason would threaten to kick his ass if he didn’t get his head in the game. Tim would be amazed that he had managed to hold onto some of his childhood innocence. Damian would simply call him an imbecile. Alfred would hide a smile behind his teacup. 

Closing his eyes for the briefest of seconds, Dick tried to center himself. When he reopened it, he took a screenshot of the cop’s face and ran it through the police database. He would investigate the man in the morning. Thoroughly. But that was a job for another day. For now, he had to sleep.

###

Dick was really trying to seem inconspicuous as he watched Officer Luca Giordano work at his computer three desks down. The man didn’t seem to notice his gaze, or if he did, ignored it. Probably assumed that he was a weird newbie. If the situations were reversed, Dick would probably would do the same. Jason would’ve stood up with so much force that the chair careened backwards and demanded to know what his problem was before loudly ordering Dick to fight him. He really missed Jason right now. He missed all of his brothers. All of his family. Hell, he would even admit to missing Roy and Wally in front of Roy and Wally.

Shaking his head, he noticed that Giordano had gotten up and was moving towards the one area in the warehouse that had good cell phone reception. Making a detour to the ‘breakroom’, Dick grabbed a coffee and a donut, simultaneously opening his phone’s recorder app and using his shoulder to hold it to his ear like he was talking. Shuffling over to where Giordano stood whispering sharply into his phone, Dick let out a loud groan. “Pop. I’m telling you that wireless internet is the same thing as wifi. And before you ask, yes, you do need wifi to use Skype.”

Dick made a face at Giordano as he hummed as if he was actually listening to someone who was incompetent at technology. It was a good thing that he had listened to Clark when the man complained about his parents. And to think that Bruce had told him that those stories where just a waste of Dick’s time. 

It was when the man started swearing in a unique way that Dick knew exactly who the man worked for. Mostly italian with a little english mixed in, and a thick Gothamite accent. There was no doubt, Giordano was one of Falcone’s men. 

Now, the only problem was getting evidence that wasn’t circumstantial at best. Gnawing on his bottom lip, Dick tried to think of evidence that could still link the man to the bomb. The actual bomb fragments were either missing or too small to be of any use. The scene itself was so contaminated that any evidence found would be thrown out in a fair trial. He could try and find the clothes that Giordano was wearing when he made the bomb. They would have explosive residue on them, and Tim could certainly match the residue to the actual bomb. Now the only problem was finding those clothes. If the guy was nearly as smart as Dick thought he was, than the clothes were long since destroyed. His best bet was Giordano’s shoes. The only problem was it was a little hard to steal shoes from a guy. If he had Jason fighting with Damian, a sleep deprived and slightly unstable Tim, and a chicken, the guy would never notice that his shoes were missing. But he was on his own, so stealing the shoes were out. But there was one thing that Dick could steal. The man’s badge. It was probably covered in the residue too, if only because Giordano touched it after handling the bomb. And since the man was ‘out’ when the precinct exploded, the man couldn’t even argue that it was from the explosion. A small part of Dick would admit that stealing the badge was petty revenge for what he had done to his fellow officers, but he would never admit it outloud. Not even to Jason. And Jason had admitted some pretty petty, gruesome, maniacal, and plainly stupid things. 

Once again, Dick found himself forcing his brain to stay focused on the task at hand. His focus had been worse ever since his family forgot his existence, he just always seemed to get lost in his thoughts. It was disconcerting. He was afraid that one day he wouldn’t be paying enough attention to a fight because his traitorous brain would be thinking about what Damian would say in that moment. That he would be hurt or worse. That he would die without the people he loved most knowing who he was and that they should mourn him.

Sighing deeply, Dick banged his head lightly on the wall. “Pop. Pop. I need you to stop talking for a moment. I’m at work, remember? I’ll call you later and explain it more in depth. You persuade Mom to make her world famous snickerdoodles and I’ll bring a pizza and set up your internet for you.”

Ending his ‘call’, Dick shoved his phone in his pocket and stuffed the last bit of his donut into his mouth. Turning abruptly, Dick ran right into Giordano, spilling his half-drunk, lukewarm coffee all over the man’s chest. Apologizing profusely as the man swore at him, Dick easily swiped the badge off of his belt, and into the waiting evidence bag in his trouser pocket. Let it be known that he was prepared. A regular boy scout. Though Bruce would’ve killed him or at the very least kicked him out of the manor if he ever even considered becoming a boy scout, though Alfred probably would’ve been amused.

With one last apology, Dick hastily shuffled away. The last thing he needed was for Giordano to realize he was missing his badge while Dick was still standing there. He had enough to deal with already. Namely, how he was going to contact the Bats and catching the serial killer. He still had no idea what the link between the victims was, but perhaps a trip to the morgue would change that. 

###

The medical examiner, James Avery, was just as friendly this time as he was the last time they met. It spoke volumes about the people inhabiting Gotham that Dick found this behavior highly suspicious. Wally had once said that his suspicion wasn’t warranted, but had later retracted that statement when a mugging victim punched him in the face and called him an idealistic moron. The point was, the only people that were ‘nice’ in Gotham were the rich, and they were faker than their boob jobs. 

Dick decided not to comment on how nice the man was being. If he was playing an angle, he didn’t want to tip the man off that he was onto him. On the other hand, maybe Dick should warn him that being nice would get him killed faster than running around in a neon spandex suit and proclaiming yourself to be Batman’s newest protege. 

“You settling into the Gotham P.D. okay? Must be different than your used to.”

Dick looked up, startled by the comment. He had been leafing through the autopsy reports from all of his alleged victims once again. “I’m from Bludhaven. That’s only across the river. It’s not that different. Though I do suppose it's a little cleaner.”

“Cleaner? Gotham?”

Dick rolled his eyes, a fond expression on his face. “Yeah. Has lower crime rates too. Though the vigilantes are something that I need to get used too.”

“I thought Bludhaven had its own mask these days?”

“Recently confirmed according to my old partner. But one vigilante is a lot different than a team of vigilantes. Especially as cops here seem to turn to the Broody Bunch to solve things that might otherwise be impossible to solve. I swear Batman’s secret identity is Sherlock Holmes!”

Jame’s lips twitched. “Oh? I was always more fond of the rumors that Batman was actually Bruce Wayne’s butler. Or that Batman was actually Bruce Wayne and the Commissioner working together.”

Dick was careful to keep his expression slightly amused and not display just how close to the truth James actually was. “Bruce Wayne. That’s that really rich guy, right? I hear his name on the news and stuff, but I don’t really pay attention to the celebrity mumbo jumbo.”

“Bruce Wayne’s worth billions of dollars. Donates a shit ton of it too, but I think the best thing he’s done is take in those kids.”

“Kids?”

Dick’s heartbeat sped up. Maybe, just maybe this guy would know who he is. “Yeah. Jason the former street rat, Tim the dead neighbor’s kid, and Damian his illegitimate son.” 

Dick hated that he missed being called the the ‘Circus Brat’. That he missed being called one of Bruce Wayne’s charity cases. Hell, he even missed the speculation of when Bruce would get tired of him and send him back to the orphanage, circus, juvenile detention center, or wherever the hell he had come from. He missed it all, and he despised the fact that he did. Apparently his teenage self was wrong, he couldn’t live without Bruce and his brothers in his life and still stay sane. Well, that was assuming that he had ever been sane to begin with. Most people didn’t dress up as masked vigilantes at the age of nine, hiding in the protective shadow of their mentor. 

“Interesting. Not that I don’t mind the chit chat, but I came here with a specific question in mind. Do you see anything that connects the victims besides their professions?”

The man raised an eyebrow before nodding his head. “Now that you mention it, yes they do. They all have these intense and beautiful natural blue eyes. Just like yours, Detective.”

Dick felt a chill go down his back, but kept the interested look on his face. “Oh? That’s very interesting. It narrows down the potential victims quite a bit, though I’d be happier if he only killed on the blue moon.” 

“You and me both. It would certainly be less work for me.”

A small snort escaped his lips and he shook his head. “I gotta go, but it was nice talking to you. Maybe we can get a beer sometime. Certainly would be nice to see you without a dead body between us.”

Dick watched as James' eyes widened at his tone. Dick knew just how it sounded to the people around him. To someone who wasn’t entertaining the possibility of him in their bed, it just sounded open and friendly. It was the others, the ones who were thinking about a night full of sin and pleasure, who heard the seductive notes to his tone. Judging by the way James’ Adam’s apple was bobbing, he was part of the later group. Good. There was something off about the man, and perhaps a meeting outside of work would get him to accidently let something slip. 

“Uh.Sure. I have your phone number from when you called the morgue. I’ll call, no! I’ll text you!”

Dick gave him a small smile before turning around and walking away with a small sway to his hips and a finger wave. He had the man hook, line and sinker. Now, he only had to meet with the Bats and hand over the badge and therefore, the case.

###

Red Robin, Robin, and Batman were all sitting on top of Wayne Towers. Hood was out doing a drug bust or something. Or maybe he was out stirring up trouble. He had displayed an interest in going to Bludhaven and meeting the new hero. Knowing his older brother, whatever he was doing involved trouble. It always did. 

There was a sound behind them, a creek as the door to the roof opened. Immediately, all three of them were on alert, ready to either disappear or fight, depending on the need. Turned out, neither response was necessary. Detective Dick Grayson stumbled out of the doorway with a grace that Red Robin would never be able to obtain. It was natural. It was the grace of a person that knew every inch of their body and was comfortable and confident in it. “I thought you guys would be here. Tallest building in the city and all.” Not to mention the fact that Batman owned it. 

Nobody spoke, and Red Robin watched as the detective shifted from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable. “I came because I’m pretty sure I solved the bombing case. Figured I’d hand over the evidence and let you guys figure out the rest. I won’t make any friends if I arrest a cop.”

“Oh? You figured out Giordano was dirty too?”

Dick didn’t seem fazed by the fact that they knew about Giordano. “Yes. I brought you his badge, it should have gun powder residue on it. And a recording where he uses swears only associated with Falcone’s goons. The rest is up to you.”

Robin scoffed. “You call that evidence? I would have gotten all of his clothing, his computer and all of his possible contacts.”

Red Robin marvelled at the fact that the detective barely looked fazed by Robin’s arrogant remark. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I didn’t want him to notice. Probably not a good idea to get on the bad side of my coworkers. They already hate me because I’m from Bludhaven.”

“That’s hardly an excuse for incompetence.”

Red Robin watched the exchange with a bated breath. Would his younger, insufferable brother piss off another cop? The reaction he got was not the one he was expecting. In fact, it was the last thing that he expected. “You’re so cute.”

Robin let out a screech before throwing a batarang right at the man’s face. Red Robin couldn’t do anything but watch as the batarang moved to make contact with the poor detective’s face. He could already see the blood and the missing eye. 

But that didn’t happen. The detective simply bent backwards at an impossible angle. Just when Red Robin thought that gravity would kick in and the man would hit his head, he jumped, completing a seamless no handed backbend walkover.

Even Batman seemed to appraise the detective in a new light. The man seemed to notice their gazes, but decided not to give them an answer on where he learned to move like that. Instead he gave Robin a look that almost looked fond. “Throwing things at me won’t change the fact that you are super cute. But I have to say, I had another reason to come visit you. I think there’s a serial killer on the loose, targeting strippers with blue eyes. And just so we’re clear, the gender doesn’t seem to matter, and there’s the same bloody graffiti at each of the crime scenes: ‘NO FUTURE FOR YOU’ it’s pretty creepy. The Commissioner wants more bodies before he declares that there is a serial killer. I figured that you guys might be able to help.”

Red Robin shared a brief look with his mentor and brother before they nodded. “We’ll get back to you with a plan before the end of tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Stay safe guys.”

Red Robin looked up to find that the detective was already halfway across the roof to the door without making a single sound. So much different from the way that he had arrived. It was almost like he had wanted them to know that he was coming. Like he hadn’t wanted to startle them. There was something off about the man, and Red Robin planned on finding out what it was.

Seconds passed before heavy boots landed on the other side of the roof. Red Hood sauntered over taking his helmet off as he moved. “Sup. Heard what’s going on over the comms. Think I can get in on the stripper case? I could go undercover.”

“No. I must work the case to teach this foolish detective that I am anything but cute.”

Red Hood opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by Batman’s growl. “Red Robin will work to finish the bombing case, and Robin and I will work on this potential serial killer case.”

“And what am I supposed to do, all mighty boss that I never listen to?”

Batman’s lips curled slightly in displeasure. “You will go to Bludhaven and investigate this hero. I want to know everything, most importantly, how to take him down if need be.”

Red Robin would never admit that the smirk that curled across his brother’s face was frightening in its intensity. He pitied this new hero. He could only imagine the tortures that Red Hood would subject him too. The poor man. On the bright side, Hood’s focus would be on this new hero so perhaps he wouldn’t harass Red Robin for a few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, more chapters are available on FF.net for those of you who cannot wait for the next update. My username is the same.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nightwing was prepared for many things. A zombie apocalypse, an alien invasion, any one of Joker’s many, many, insane plans, a world wide shortage of Lucky Charms. The point was Nightwing was ready for whatever the universe threw at him. Or so he thought. The universe just loved to prove him wrong. 

He had a stalker. And not just any stalker. He had a Bat Stalker. More specifically, Red Hood. Nightwing had no idea whether or not the man thought he was being subtle, or if he simply didn’t care about being caught. Nightwing could only imagine what Batman had told his younger brother to do. Follow him, find out his weaknesses, figure out a way to bring him down if need be. Orders that all the former (and current) Robins had all heard before. Orders that they had all followed before. Orders that were seriously annoying him right now.

Nightwing didn’t want to deal with Red Hood’s idea of an interrogation. So he did what any reasonable vigilante that was trained by Batman did. He disappeared. Went poof into the night without leaving a trace. Well not really. In reality, he dove off of the rooftop he was on, grabbed a protruding decorative trim, and used the momentum to swing himself into an open window. Red Hood had been following at a distance, so there was no way for him to have seen where Nightwing went. 

Slipping silently through the abandoned apartment, Nightwing peeled off his mask and took out the pair of street clothes that he kept in his boot sole. Quickly shucking off his uniform, Dick pulled on the clothes, checked his hair and soundlessly slipped out of the apartment to the busy street below, his uniform folded and tucked in the waistband of his pants. 

If Dick squinted, he could see the red of his brother’s helmet on the roof of the building he just exited. It looked like his brother was scanning the other rooftops for the elusive Nightwing. Too bad that he wouldn’t find him. With a small smirk, Dick disappeared into the crowds of Bludhaven citizens. He just knew that this wouldn’t be the last time that he saw his younger brother. Knowing Jason, he would be more interested, perhaps even obsessed with him now that he managed to escape without him noticing. He would need to prepare himself for the inevitable confrontation. 

###

It was 3:30 a.m. There was a shuffle in his living room. Dick was immediately wide awake, hand automatically closing around the gun on his nightstand. With years of practice and knowledge of every single squeaky floorboard in his apartment, Dick snuck out of his room and aimed his gun at the intruder. 

He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or snarl when his brain registered who it was. Sitting in his kitchen drinking coffee from his favorite Superman themed mug was Red Robin. His eye twitched. “What the fuck are you doing in my apartment? Are you trying to get yourself shot?”

Red Robin started fiddling with his wrist computer, barely paying any attention to him or the gun that was no longer pointed at his chest. “Your security is pretty good. It was no match for my new lock cracking algorithm, but that is to be suspected.”

“I’ll repeat. What the fuck are you doing in my apartment? And let me tell you just how wrong it is to break into somebody else’s apartment. Hint. It’s extremely wrong. What if I had a date over! It’s one thing to violate my privacy, but you would be violating theirs too!”

Red Robin gave him an incredulous look. A look that made Dick realize that he was lecturing his younger brother in much the same way as he used to. The problem was that his younger brother no longer recognized him and therefore didn’t realize that Dick was definitely allowed to scold him. Or ground him.

“Okay Mom. Won’t happen again.” Dick flinched at the word choice. He used to get Mother’s Day cards from his brothers. Bruce had even told him that he played the mother figure to Bruce’s father. The reminder hurt. 

Red Robin undoubtedly noticed his flinch, but would assume that it had to do with the fact that he was an orphan. There was no other logical explanation, and his younger brother was all about logic.

“Just tell me why you’re here.”

“I just wanted to tell you that Giordano was apprehended. He sung like a canary, but I have no doubt that you will interrogate him as well come the morning. Batman is finishing rounding up the rest of Falcone’s men. Unfortunately, Falcone seems to be in the wind. I tracked him to a non-extradition country, but Superman agreed to pick him up in the morning. The trick will be making sure that all of his men are rounded up and put into separate prisons. The last thing we need is them breaking Falcone out.”

“Is that all?”

“No.” Dick’s eye twitched, and his grip tightened on his gun. Red Robin’s lips formed a miniscule smile, and Dick knew that he found his reactions funny. “I also came to inform you that Batman and Robin are reviewing your notes and the autopsy reports of the suspected serial killer case. Last I heard, they were convinced that you were right and that there was a serial killer on the loose.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Then get the hell out of my house. And make sure you fix my security system before you leave. I don’t want anymore unexpected visitors. They would probably not be as nice as you are.”

Red Robin shook his head in silent laughter. “Consider it done.”

Moments later, a breeze went through the apartment, curtains fluttering. Red Robin was gone, and so was Dick’s favorite coffee mug. Dick really wished that he had smacked his brother when he had had the chance.

The next morning, Dick stormed into the Commissioner’s office, ignoring the fact that he was in a meeting. Slamming his hands down on the Commissioner’s desk, he stared the man straight in the eyes. “If one of the members of the Bat Clan ever, ever breaks into my apartment again, for whatever reason, I will shoot them. So please pass on the message before one of them complains that they have bullet holes in their costume or body. And tell that twerp Red Robin that I want my coffee mug back, before I arrest him for theft.” With that, Dick turned around and marched out of the room before the Commissioner could even begin to form a response. 

###

Dick sat down across from Officer Luca Giordano in the interrogation room. Giordano sat with his hands handcuffed and attached to the desk in front of them. Meanwhile, Dick was sitting with his feet on the desk, leaning his chair back so far on the back legs that it was a wonder he didn’t fall down. He was also whistling a pop song completely out of tune.

“Will you knock that off?”

Dick paused his whistling. Giordano had spoken first, and therefore had made the first move in this interrogation. “Sorry. That song has been stuck in my head all week.”

“Doesn’t mean that you should get it stuck in everybody else’s head.”

Dick shrugged. “I’m used to being alone. Only responsible for myself. Not like you, you have a wife and kid!”

Giordano looked at him with a blank face. He wasn’t nearly as good at hiding his emotions as Bruce was though. Dick could see the man was wondering where he was going with this. That he was uncomfortable with the line of questioning. Good.

“Yes. I do. My wife Maria and daughter Bianca.” 

“So why would you risk it all by working for Falcone? I mean I know that the pay isn’t great, but you can afford a decent place for three here. And being a cop is dangerous enough without working for one of the most notorious mobsters in Gotham.”

Giordano didn’t say anything. After a long moment, Dick shrugged. “Whatever. Batman collected more than enough evidence to lock you up. We don’t actually need a confession or anything. I just figured that you’d want to tell somebody why you did it. Truth will set you free and all that.”

“Why would I tell you and not Gordon?”

“Because Gordon wouldn’t understand. Hell, I don’t understand, but I came from a city where the only other clean cop was my partner, but unlike me, she knew how to blend in. Gordon doesn’t understand that some people are dirty because they are bad people, and that some people are dirty so that they will survive. I understand that. And while I don’t understand why you in particular were dirty, if you tell me, I will. I’ve been told that I’m a very compassionate person.”

“Look. My wife’s cousin’s husband’s sister’s neighbor is a high ranking member of Falcone’s operation. My whole damn family got dragged into it. They promised to leave my wife and kid alone if I helped. It’s always good to have a cop in your backpocket, even if it’s only a detective.”

“Why not report it to Batman? You got the damn summoning signal on the roof.”

“Right. Like Batman would help me a mere plebeian. I wasn’t going to risk my family when Falcone found out. You really think that I’m the only dirty cop in the department? Someone would have turned me in to the Bossman for the cash.”

“Thanks for the warning. I guess that concludes this interview.”

Turning off all recording devices, Dick leaned forward to unhook Giordano’s cuffs. Making sure that his back was to the two way mirror, Dick whispered, “A lady friend of mine works with the Wayne Foundation. Gives people scholarships and affordable housing. I’ll make sure that she knows about your family.”

Giordano didn’t meet his eyes, but as a few uniforms pulled him away and towards the holding cell, Dick could’ve sworn he heard the man let out a choked whisper. Thank you.

###

Dick would love to say that the rest of the day was easy, but it wasn’t. He ‘accidently’ ran into Suzzanne Palmer, one of the people in charge of Wayne Foundation Scholarships during his lunch break. Turns out, she didn’t have to remember him to have an instant crush on him. Though, if he remembered correctly, she had had an instant crush on him the first time around too. Point was, he had no trouble convincing her that Giordano’s wife and child should be a priority case. 

After that, Dick went to the ATM and withdrew three thousand dollars in cash, which he proceeded to slip into the mailslot of the Giordano’s apartment. His wife and kid would find it later. He hoped the note that he attached would alleviate some of their fears about where the money came from. 

Dick then proceeded to revisit crime scenes and add to his notes. At this point, he was just hoping that the killer had been coming to relive his crimes and left evidence behind. There wasn’t anything new that he could find. On the bright side, Batman could not accuse him of not trying hard enough. Knowing his mentor, he would be told that he overlooked something obvious, but he could handle that.

All the while, he had been texting James. Keeping it at the could be flirty, could be really friendly level. The man was eating it up. He wanted to meet for drinks that night. Dick had to take a moment to think about that request. At some point, Batman would want to see him. Would want to discuss some sort of plan. 

Whatever. Batman could yell all he wanted. Dick was gonna try and have a social life. Even if said social life was literally based on the case he was working. Taking out his cell phone, Dick scrolled through the twenty unread messages from James. Why worry about double texting when you could text someone twenty times? 

Dick: Lol...someone’s enthusiastic. Tonight at 7 sounds good.

James: Really? That’s great!

James: I am looking forward to it!

James: Can not wait to see you!

James: This is going to be great!

James: Wear something that will bring out your eyes

James: You will look great in anything but your eyes are your best feature

James: That shade of blue is fascinating

Dick stopped reading the text messages after that. They were just getting progressively creepier. James was such a little weirdo. A potentially deadly little weirdo, but a weirdo nonetheless. Though, Dick should undoubtedly stop treating him like he was harmless. There was something plain off with the man. Dick could walk into a trap if he wasn’t careful.

Dick was suddenly glad that he had brought a cobalt button down and a pair of nice jeans with him. It would prevent him from having to go back home to Bludhaven to get changed for his ‘date’. That would have been plain inconvenient. 

Checking his watch, Dick noted that it was nearing five o’clock. If he wanted to have time to case the bar and get ready, he would have to leave soon. Signing out of his computer, Dick got up and went to the small break room. There he made himself a sandwich. If he was going to be drinking tonight, he wanted to make sure that his stomach was full before he drank alcohol. The last thing that he needed was to be drunk around a guy that he suspected was involved in the serial killer case. 

Going into the locker room, Dick slowly changed into his shirt and pants, rolling the sleeves up with practiced ease. Running his hand through his hair, he adjusted it until it was the perfect mix of sloppy and styled. Satisfied that he looked like the average person’s wet dream, Dick strolled out of the GCPD, ignoring the wolf whistles that his colleagues sent his way. 

It was two hours later, that Dick found himself strolling into the bar and over to where James was waiting for him. He had tried to case the joint earlier, but James had already been in there nursing a water. Dick had to settle with looking at blueprints and security footage, which annoyed him slightly. He managed to swallow his annoyance as he walked towards the man with a grin on his face. 

Sitting across from James at the table that was hidden from most people in the room, Dick gestured for two beers. Giving the man across from him his most charming smile, Dick held up his beer to clink against Jame’s. They sat there in compatible silence for a moment before Jame’s decided to open his mouth. “That shirt brings out your eyes.”

“I know. I like to bring out my best feature.”

“They're crystal blue, a shade that shouldn't exist on the human body, I shade I immediately crave, a shade that makes my heart beat a little bit faster--almost as if I recognize it...It's the most perfect blue I've ever seen. Even from this distance his eyes are simply remarkable.”

“You make that up?”

“Kiersten White”

Dick smiled, allowing a puzzled look to dance across his face. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who that is. I do, however, like being complimented.”

Jame’s returned the smile. “Oh? Should I continue?”

“Maybe later. For now, I am happy drinking my beer and pretending that the the rest of my day didn’t happen.”

“That bad? What happened.”

James reached over and put his hand on top of Dick’s. Dick looked down at his hand, wanting to pull it away, but instead raising an inquisitive eyebrow. When James began to look nervous, Dick smiled widely at him, spreading his fingers apart so that he could interlace them slightly. “I had to interrogate the Police Station bomber today. He was a fellow cop. His family was threatened, I can’t say that I really blame him. To top it off, nobody else thinks it’s a serial killer. They said something about me looking too far into it. Called me a Rookie.” 

It was a calculated risk revealing his involvement in the bombing case. If he showed that he was trusting and wasn’t holding back information, James was more likely to do the same. “I don’t think that you’re crazy. Whispers on the street say that it’s a guy who is obsessed with eyes. Apparently, blue eyes hold more darkness than any pair of brown eyes.”

Dick felt a shiver go down his back. There were no whispers on the street. In fact, the street was startlingly silent. So how exactly did James have this information? Licking his lips slightly, Dick squeezed James’ hand. “Thank you. I haven’t worked here long enough to hear the whispers. And I don’t live in this city, so I haven’t made any connections that way either. If this were Bludhaven, I would be all over it.”

“Oh?”

“Oh yeah. My neighbor is a huge gossip. She’s also involved in all sorts of illegal crap.”

“Aren’t you a cop?”

“I’m a homicide detective. As long as she doesn’t kill anyone, I don’t care. Besides, if I arrested her, who would buy cereal for me?”

“Cereal? Don’t you mean groceries?”

“No. I mean cereal. I take my Lucky Charms very seriously.”

James laughed, and for a moment, Dick could almost pretend that they were two normal people on a date, and not a slightly creepy weirdo that may actually be a serial killer, and a cop by day, vigilante by night detective who was investigating said weirdo. Dick suddenly got the feeling that he needed more friends. 

“It’s getting late.”

Dick raised an eyebrow and hid his smile behind the lip of his beer bottle. “So it is. I should probably go home.”

James licked his lips. “Yeah probably.”

“This was fun.”

“I thought so too. Wanna do it again sometime?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll bring you a box of Lucky Charms.”

Dick burst out laughing, fully amused by the mere prospect. Now if only all of his dates offered that option. “That would be amazing.”

James stood up and shuffled closer to Dick. Dick smiled but didn’t move any closer, James would have to make a move on him if he wanted this to happen. And apparently he did, because a split second later, Dick was being kissed. It was sloppy and messy and Dick could tell that James was inexperienced, but at the same time it was great. And wow, Dick really needed to go on a real date again. 

Pulling away, Dick gave James a chaste kiss on the cheek before sashaying out of the bar. The night wasn’t even close to being over yet. 

###

Dick walked down the dirty Gotham streets waiting. Any moment now, he would be kidnapped to the rooftops by Batman. He just needed to keep walking. Walking and waiting. Waiting and walking. The two Ws. W to the second power. Any moment now. Any freaking moment. God he was bored.

And suddenly he was in the air. Dick didn’t panic, scream, or struggle. He just hung like a limp ragdoll as he was swooped into the night’s sky. Dick tried not to stumble and fall when he was roughly deposited on the roof. He knew that that was Batman’s way of showing his displeasure. Dick knew from personal experience that the man could’ve deposited him a lot nicer. Asshole.

“You were off fooling around when there is a serial killer on the loose? And you wonder why the Commissioner didn’t believe you. Your work ethic leaves much to be desired.”

Dick couldn’t stop the snarl from escaping his lips. “Listen up, cause I will only say this once. That guy knows something about the serial killer. I figured that I could get him to let something slip if he was outside the work environment. If that means that I have to take him on a date, so be it.”

Batman looked like he was about to say something back, but Robin stepped in between them. “Leave him be, Father. If Grayson wishes to whore himself out, let him. In fact, it may be beneficial. Hood did not have the wrong idea when he suggested going undercover. Grayson certainly proved to be flexible enough to be a decent stripper when he dodged the batarang that I threw at his face.”

Dick gave Robin an incredulous look. “What do you know about being a good stripper? You’re like ten years old.”

“I’ll have you know that my older brothers constantly debate which one would make the best stripper. I still do not understand why Red Robin thinks he can win.”

Dick’s heart started beating really fast. The matter of who was a better stripper was a debate that Jason and him used to have constantly. Tim had sometimes tried to argue that he was the best stripper of the three of them, but had quickly changed his mind the second that Dick and Jason had forced him into a bedazzled thong and blasted ‘Hot in Herre’ by Nelly. Needless to say, Tim had never wanted to strip again, and Bruce had grounded them for a very long time.

“You want me to go undercover as a stripper?”

“You do have the correct eye color.”

Dick turned to face the Bat himself. “What do you think about this?”

“I think that it’s the best lead we’ve got. You’ll go under tomorrow night. We’ll watch from a distance and ensure your safety.”

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice. Fine. Tomorrow night. If you don’t mind, I’d like to be brought down to the ground now.”

When he received no response, Dick looked up and around. They were gone. They left him on a bloody roof with no real way down! “Are you fucking kidding me!” His scream echoed through Gotham. With no other choice, Dick dialed 9-1-1. 

“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

“This is Detective Richard Grayson. The Brooding Menace and the Snarling Midget abandoned me on a rooftop with no way down. Please get me down. I really want to go home.” 

“Fire Rescue is on it’s way. If I may ask, what did you do to piss of the Bat?”

“I went on a date. I think the Bat’s jealous that he doesn’t have my undivided attention and undying love. ”

Dick knew that the rumors would be flying the next day. Batman gay? Batman in love with a cop? Was Batman’s frigid heart is capable of love? Point was, the rumors would be buzzing and Batman would have no one to blame besides himself. He really shouldn’t have left Dick alone on the roof. If he dared do it again he would find his Batmobile a horrendous shade of neon yellow, superglue on all of the seats, and Barbie Girl stuck on repeat on the radio. 

###

Dick texted Amy requesting that they meet for breakfast at the same diner that they met the last time. Then, he put on his Nightwing uniform. Jumping from roof to roof, Nightwing took his frustrations out on the thugs and muggers. He felt bad, they didn’t stand a chance against him. Not when he was this pumped. 

Red Hood was once again following him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He just wanted to fight some bad guys before heading home. He wanted to get a good night sleep before meeting Amy. He wanted to rant about how much he hated Batman. Well not hated, but extremely disliked. At the moment. He didn’t always dislike Batman. In fact, he usually didn’t. He loved his father. Even if the man drove him batty. 

Nightwing stopped his musing when he heard a faint crying. Racing across the rooftops, Nightwing hurled himself towards the sound. There, standing in a dark alley, was a child. He was alone, or at least appeared to be alone.

Landing softly, Nightwing carefully extended his hand. “My name’s Nightwing. What’s your name?”

“Josh.”

“That's a nice name. I knew a guy name named Josh once. He was a great guy. Super nice. I bet you are too.”

“Maybe. I don't know.”

Dick gave him a soft smile, wiping a stray tear from his face. Red Hood was watching from the top of the nearby roof. “Why were you crying Josh.” 

“I got seperated from my parents.”

“Wow. I'd be so scared. You must be crazy brave.”

Josh sniffled, but a smile was beginning to bloom on his face. “Really? You think so?”

“Oh yeah. Wanna see a trick?” 

“Sure!”

Nightwing grinned and flipped onto his hands, walking around in a handstand. Opening his legs into a splits, he placed one foot onto the ground and stood up. Glancing at the distance between him and Josh, Nightwing ran a few steps forward, tumbling into a series of cartwheels and flips, finishing the trick with an no handed front handspring that literally flipped him over the boy. With the flourish of a natural performer, Dick bowed to the boy in front of him. 

Josh laughed and clapped. The sound so happy that it made Dick’s grin grow in size. After the moment, the boy seemed to realize that he was not supposed to be having fun, and bit his lip. “Hey Josh. Why don't I bring you to the Police Station, I bet the can track down your Mom no problem.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“I really want to, but I gotta go home Bud. I'm pretty tired. And before I can do that, I have to talk to my friend Red Hood. He came all the way from Gotham to see me, and I've been ignoring him all night.”

“That's not very nice.”

“You're right. I'm being a jerk. I'll make sure to apologize to him later, but first I'm going to make sure you get to the BPD alright.”

Josh held up his arms to lifted, which Nightwing did gladly. If the kid were to bite him, it would remind him of carrying Damian around. Damian would kill him if he ever found out that Dick actually liked carrying him around even when the boy was actively trying to maul him. Even when Damian pretended to be asleep so Dick would carry him to bed. 

It didn’t take long to drop Josh off or explain the situation to the cops. It was the first time that he was actively interacting with any besides Amy. He was pleasantly surprised that they did not attempt to arrest him, though that might have been due to Josh’s presence. With one last wave to the little boy Nightwing disappeared into the night sky, well aware that Red Hood was following him.

Stopping at his favorite rooftop, Nightwing sat with his feet hanging over the edge. Swinging his legs slightly, he waited. Moments later, Red Hood joined him. As usual, his younger brother couldn’t contain his inner asshole. “Aren’t you supposed to be apologizing for avoiding me?”

“I don’t have to as you were obviously eavesdropping. Besides, I picked up an unwanted stalker, so you really should be apologizing to me.”

“Life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apologies you never got.”

“Who said that?”

“Why couldn’t I have just made that up?”

“You’re not smart enough.”

Nightwing knew that if Jason’s helmet had been off, his brother would have been pouting with a mock hurt expression. “I am too. But to answer your question, Robert Brault.”

Nightwing had no clue who that was, but his younger brother had always been a literature nerd, so he knew that he wasn’t making the person up. He would have to look up Robert Brault later. Preferably before he forgot. 

Taking his silence as an invitation to change the subject, Red Hood said, “You were good with the kid down there. Got him to calm down and laugh. I mean his parents probably abandoned him or are dead, but you made him happy. Might be the last time he’s happy for a long time.”

“You don’t know that. He could’ve gotten separated from his mom and dad.” 

“At this time of night? In this city? Not fucking likely. You really should know that if your planning on being a vigilante here.”

Nightwing growled lowly. Almost too low for Red Hood to hear. “I don’t need you to tell me how to do things. And I certainly didn’t invite you to this city. So why don’t you go report to the Bat that I am a good fighter and that I am not a danger.”

“I saw you fight a few common thugs. That doesn’t mean you can fight.”

“Believe me when I say that I have more experience in fighting than you do. You really don’t want to see what happens when I stop playing around.”

Red Hood sat up straighter, his head cocked slightly to the side. “Is that a threat?”

“No. A warning. I am merely stating a fact, and I don’t believe in threats.”

“What, are you going to say that you only make promises? Are you that cliched?”

“Everybody lies. I don’t believe in the promises many people make.”

Red Hood looked vaguely startled by that fact. Like he wasn’t expecting an actual answer to his taunts, or for the answer to hold actual feelings in it. “Then who do you trust? Your family?”

“My family is gone. I am attempting to rebuild my life without them.”

The roof was silent for a moment before Red Hood gently laid a hand on his shoulder. “My blood family is gone too, but I made a new one. And it’s better than my old one. One day, you’ll have a family again, I promise. And while you may not believe me, I always keep my promises.”

Nightwing looked up, only to find that his younger brother had vanished. With Red Hood gone, there was nothing to stop him from letting the tears fall. Nothing to stop the choked sobs from escaping his lips. Nothing from stopping himself to feel all that he had really lost. 

It was over an hour later when Nightwing slipped into his apartment feeling emotionally drained and more than a little unsure about how he was going to continue interacting with his family and keep his sanity. It was worse, he decided, to have intimate conversations than to have no conversations at all.

Stripping down to his underwear, Dick slipped under his blankets and curled into a ball. His heartbreak wouldn’t last forever. If there was one thing for certain, Dick Grayson was a survivor. He would survive this. He had to. 

Besides, what Jason said about rebuilding his family was true. He had already begun doing so with Amy. She would make him feel better in the morning. She always did. It was part of the miracle that was Amy Rohrbach. Just the thought of seeing her made him smile. He would be okay. Tomorrow was a new day, and as always, he would face it with a smile. He always did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is chapter 5. 
> 
> Lilacsbloom on ff.net shared this link with me, and I figured that I have a small platform to share it with all of you. This is regarding Article 13 which is 'endangering the internet. Please check out the link below!
> 
> https://www.change.org/p/european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Batman sat in front of his computer, frowning sternly as he finished typing his report. Red Robin and Robin were training, though it sounded like they were getting more and more violent by the second. Probably fighting about one thing or another again.

Behind him, a loud roar echoed through the cave. Red Hood was back. Moments later, he screeched to a stop and took his helmet off. The second that the red monstrosity was off of his head, Red Hood's boisterous laughter could be heard all around cave. Great. More often than not, what his eldest son found funny wasn't something that amused others.

The boys stopped sparring as their brother continued to laugh maniacally. Red Hood didn't seem to notice. Five minutes passed before his laughter seemed to calm into wheezes and then breathless gasps. Finally, he pointed at Batman. "You're in love with a cop?"

Batman decided not to dignify that ridiculous motion with a response. Unfortunately, Red Robin didn't have the same idea. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oracle just told me, that the Commissioner told her, that rumors are flying all around Gotham that Batman is in love with a certain detective named Richard John Grayson, and that he got jealous when he went on a date with another man."

"That is preposterous! Father is not in love with that, that whore!"

Batman's eye twitched as he tried to maintain his stony expression. Who would dare make such accusations and start those kinds of rumors about Dark Knight? They would have to be stupid. Or they would have to have an absurd amount of confidence that Batman would never be able to come after them.

###

"So let me get this straight. He's mad because you went out on a date, a date that you went out on to get more information?"

Dick looked at Amy over the lip of his coffee mug. It was not nearly as cool as his Superman mug, which he had yet to get back from Red Robin. "Yup."

Amy put down her fork and knife. Dick wondered if she was done with her waffles. He had already eaten his three pancakes, but he was still hungry. "And now he's making you go undercover as a stripper?"

"Well that was his son's idea, but he rolled with it. I got the distinct impression I couldn't say no. Are you going to finish those?"

Amy gave him the look. The same look that Alfred used to give him to make him feel smaller than any ant. "And then he abandoned you on a roof?"

"I had to call the fire department to get me down."

"Okay, we hate him."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "We?" Dick couldn't even say that he hated his father, how was he supposed to make Amy hate the guy in solidarity?

"If you hate him, than so do I Grayson. And nobody abandons my rookie on a roof and makes him the laughing stock of the whole damn city without my permission."

"Gee, thanks. I got my revenge though. The whole city thinks that he's in love with me and got jealous that I went on a date with somebody else."

"I never thought I'd say this, but good job Grayson!"

"Hey!"

Amy laughed, loud and boisterous. Dick smiled, and started laughing too. "Oh Grayson. I miss hanging out with you so much. I feel like you've been absent since you left for Gotham."

Dick looked down at his coffee and sniffed. It took a few minutes before he responded. "There are things that you don't know about me. Things that nobody knows. The reason I've been so absent is because of those things."

"Oh?"

"I don't think that you will believe me. And even if you did, I don't know if I'm ready to tell you. I've just finished gluing myself back together, and I'm afraid that if I tell you, I'll fall apart again. You have no idea how broken I am."

Amy looked at him with such a tender gaze, that Dick roughly brushed at his eyes, afraid that tears would fall. She reminded him so much of his mother in that moment. That look of unconditional love and acceptance. "Okay Grayson. Whenever you're ready. I am so full, think you could finish my waffles? Oh! My kids were saying that they missed you, think that you could come over on Saturday? You're off, aren't you?"

Dick shoved a giant bite of waffles into his mouth. Chewing thoughtfully, Dick took a moment to mull over his answer. "I should be, but Batman or the Commissioner may decide that they want me in Gotham."

"I should ask Nightwing to request you first."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that Batman or the Commissioner will take that excuse. Besides, I thought Nightwing was avoiding the other heros. He can't exactly do that if everybody's blabbing about things he does and says."

Amy shook her head, shoulders silently shaking. "You're such a funny guy Grayson. I don't know how your brain comes up with half of this stuff."

"I've been asked the same thing many times before. The answer is that I have absolutely no fucking clue. I blame how I was raised."

Amy was such a good friend. She simply raised an eyebrow and sipped at her coffee. She didn't ask a single follow up question, which made Dick happier than he could describe. She was such a good friend. His brother had been right, he would find a new family, and Amy would be its first official member.

###

Red Robin stared at the data in front of him. There were too many strip clubs in Gotham to leave to random chance. If the Detective was to go undercover as a stripper, he would need the best chance possible to be picked up by the killer. That would only happen if he could find the pattern between the clubs where the strippers worked.

It took longer than Red Robin would like to admit to graph the points and find a notable pattern. It was only after he numbered the incidents that he saw it. Looking back, it should have been obvious. The murders made a very precise spiral outwards, the killer was most likely OCD. He probably didn't even realize that he was making a pattern.

It was good news for them though. Red Robin could literally plot where the next murder would take place. It was perfect. Placing a finger to the comm in his ear, Red Robin waited until he heard Batman's gruff voice. "Report."

"Serial killer will strike at Hunk-O-Mania. Based on the exceleration, it should probably be tonight."

Batman let out a grunt that Red Robin knew to be speculative. He wasn't surprised when the man didn't respond further. Batman was never one for small talk. Well, any talk that didn't relate to the 'mission'. But that was okay Red Robin liked the way things were. He liked how Batman sometimes smiled at something he did or said and that that said more than words ever could. He liked how the man sometimes 'helped' him with homework. He didn't actually need help, but he liked the attention. Liked that the man felt the need to help.

With a small sigh, Red Robin grabbed his coffee mug from the table and took a sip of his lukewarm drink as he continued to stare at the map in front of him. It was going to be a very long night. Luckily, he wasn't actually a part of this operation. Not that that would stop him from being involved.

###

Dick was eating a sandwich at a local Gotham Deli when James sat down across from him The guy had been texting him all day, but Dick had yet to find the energy to respond. Now it looked like he had no choice. Swallowing, he gave James a smile. "Hey."

"You never texted me back."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "I've been at work James. And unless today is your day off, so have you."

"I still found the time."

"I've been busy. This is my first break of the day. I wasn't exactly looking at my text messages."

"A friend of mine saw you with a woman this morning."

Dick was more than a little creeped out. He said so much to James. "She was my old partner from the BPD."

"Did you ever sleep with her?"

"Excuse me? I wasn't aware that one date allowed you to have any rights to me. And for your information, I have never even considered sleeping with Amy. She's married with kids and a mentor to me."

James sniffed and stared at Dick as if he thought that he was lying, which was ridiculous. He would never sleep with Amy. He might have debated going to a bar last night and picking up a random stranger, but he had certainly never considered Amy. "Look. I don't know what your problem is today, but I won't ever go out with you again if you keep this up. You can't tell me who I can be friends with and you certainly can't make me feel bad for seeing them."

"I'm sorry. I got jealous. I don't know how to do this."

Shrugging Dick said, "It's okay if you don't know how to do this, but it isn't okay to act like a complete ass to me."

"I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't listen to my brother. He doesn't treat his partners well."

Dick instantly picked up on the small slip of information. "Oh. I didn't realize you had a brother."

"Yeah. A twin. He's always been more outgoing than I am. Meaner too. Always forcing me to do things that I don't want to do."

Carefully filing the information away, Dick gave him a small smile. "Brothers can be the worst."

"Do you have a brother?"

James perked up and looked at him like some sort of puppy. "Foster brothers. We went through some pretty rough times together."

It wasn't a lie. Just a small and somewhat misleading fact. They were foster siblings until Bruce signed all of their adoption forms, and they had gone through some pretty messed up shit. It just wasn't the kind of shit that James was thinking of. And Jason's death and subsequent revival certainly counted as all kinds of traumatic for all parties involved. All the death jokes were painful enough without the constant reminder of the hell Jason had been through.

"I'm so sorry."

Looking down at the watch that Bruce had once given him, Dick cursed. "Look, I'm sorry to cut this short but I really gotta run. Bad guys to catch and all that. I'll text you back later, I promise!"

Dick ran out of the deli with the remainder of his sandwich in hand. He didn't actually have anywhere to go, he just wanted out of that conversation. He had a feeling that he should be looking into James' brother.

###

Dick looked at the tiny shorts being thrusted towards him with something akin to horror, automatically raising his hands up as if to ward them away. They were gold and shimmery and had thee word 'Angel' scribed in cursive right across the butt. Then there were the angel wings and halo that were also being held out to him.

"Are you kidding me?"

Robin scoffed quietly, though Dick could see a faint blush on his cheeks. "Red Hood informed me that these would be appealing with your 'angelic good looks' and 'fantastic ass'.

Dick felt a blush spreading down his face and chest. "Excuse me? How does he even know how I look and just how fantastic my ass is?"

"By our surveillance of course. You live a very boring life by the way You always go to work and then back home and then back to work. Father tells me that it is important to have friends."

And that was Robin's very rude way of saying that he was worried about him. "I had a date last night, you remember how Batman acted. And I saw my old partner Amy this morning. I don't have many friends kid. And none of them live in this city. You do the math."

"I too do not have any friends. Perhaps we can help each other rectify this issue that society deems to be unexceptable despite the fact that I personally see no benefits to having friends."

Dick raised one eyebrow in surprise. "Oh? You don't know me. Why would you want to be my friend?"

"I know enough. Your physical capabilities are quite impressive. I was inspired by the move you performed after I threw that batarang at you. I find you to be an acceptable candidate for a friend."

A smile played on across his lips, and Dick crouched down so that he was eye level with Robin. Sticking his hand out, Dick gave Robin his biggest smile. "In that case, I would be quite honored to be your friend, Robin."

Dick watched amused as Robin fought to hide his smile. "Now that that nuisance is out of the way, we can return to the matter at hand. You must change so that you can display your body to a group of harlots."

"Fine. I can't wait for you to get older so that I can tell you exactly what I think about this situation."

"I am old in experience. You can tell me now."

"No way kid. You might see gruesome things every night, but I am not going to talk to you about sex and prostitution."

"I can handle it."

Dick laughed a little. "Give me those booty shorts. I rather suffer the indignity of wearing them than continue having this conversation with you."

Robin wore a small pleased smirk as he handed Dick the undignifyingly small booty shorts and wings. Giving one last forlorn look to Robin, Dick shuffled away clutching the gold monstrosity in his hand.

They were outside of a strip club called Hunk-O-Mania. Batman was lurking around somewhere. The man had only stayed long enough to tell him that the serial killer would strike here tonight, that he would be watching his back, and that he better not mess this up. Robin had been nicer, a rare occurrence, and had stayed to give him the dreaded costume.

Now, he was hiding behind a dumpster as he clumsily changed into the gold thing. He was glad that he had thought to bring an overcoat. At least he was somewhat covered up, even if he looked like he was some dirty pervert about to flash somebody.

Giving himself a mental peptalk, Dick ignored that Robin was hovering behind him. "Red Hood made sure that The Pharaoh would be unable to come in tonight. You are his replacement and are highly recommended, so do not disappoint. Your name is Holy Fire, in case you wanted to know."

"Who came up with that name?"

"Red Robin. He researched the best stripper names having to do with angelic appeal."

"You guys are insane. Like certifiable. I'm sane in comparison, which is really saying something."

Dick could practically see Robin's eyes observing him curiously. His new friend wasn't exactly subtle. Taking a fortifying breathe, Dick stared down the employee entrance. "Wish me luck."

He could've sworn that he heard a scoff, but when he turned around Robin was gone. Counting to ten in his head, Dick took one more breathe and pushed the door open. There was no time like the present. Might as well get this over with.

###

Dick stumbled off the stage, pushing himself through the grabbing hands. He had more dollar bills stuffed in his shorts than he was willing to admit. Apparently, if his job as a cop and his backup job as a trapeze artist didn't work out, he could make it as a stripper. He had a fifteen minute break before he was on again, so he sat down at the bar and ordered himself a martini. Heavy on the vodka. He would need it if he was going to continue to degrade himself in front of a bunch of horny people.

A man came up from behind him and put his hand on Dick's neck. Dick felt a small prick, and turned to glance at the man. He looked vaguely familiar, and Dick struggled to think of where he had seen the man before. His vision starts to blur slightly around the edges. The man in front of him smirked. "Come on honey, let's get some air and privacy."

Dick's tongue felt heavy, as the man dragged him behind him. He stumbled slightly, his usual grace out of his reach. He was drugged. The man must have drugged him when he touched him. Some sort of needle or patch or something.

Next thing he knew, Dick was in an isolated alley. Alone. The man was touching him all over and making weird grunting noises. Any second Batman would swoop in and save him. It was when the man put his hands around his neck that Dick realized that Batman wasn't coming. Not this time.

Dick started to struggle, and the man tightened his grip. Dick switched to clawing at the hands around his neck. When that didn't work, Dick did one thing that his oxygen starved brain could think of, he kneed the guy in the balls. The man released his neck, automatically hunching over. Giving a sloppy punch to the guy's nose for good measure, Dick stumbled away as fast as possible. He made it to the mouth of the alley before he ran into someone. He clung to the person, trying to stay standing. It was when he looked up that he received a shock. James.

"It wasn't supposed to go down like this. You were supposed to be safe. You're a cop not a stripper."

Dick pulled at the man's tie weakly. He had to force his tongue to move to form one word. "Help."

"He's my brother. I have to help him, even if that means killing you."

Dick wanted to cry. Why did things like this always happen to him? What happened to Batman and Robin watching his back? What happened to Robin claiming that he would be his friend?

James tried to grab him, so Dick ducked under his arms and did a forward roll. It was far from his usual standard, but he ended up on his feet behind James, and once again began to run. Well, stumble. James was behind him, reaching for him, about to grab him.

His head was yanked back. Dick could feel his scalp begin to bleed where James ripped out a chunk of hair. Something happened, and next thing he knew he was on the ground with James leaning over him. The man was leering at him, like he was some sort of piece of meat. Dick wanted to close his eyes, pretend that this wasn't happening to him, but couldn't seem to force himself to look away. Which is why he saw it when a fist suddenly appeared and not only knocked James away but clearly knocked him out cold. Dick sluggishly turned to face his savior, knowing that he had a bruises on his neck in the form of hand prints.

Another stripper, Tarzan, was leaning over him. The man was talking, but Dick couldn't hear whatever he was saying. It took a lot of effort, but he was finally able to make his mouth form words. "Call 911. My name is Dick Grayson. I'm an undercover cop."

The last thing that Dick saw was the surprise on Tarzan's face before he passed out.

###

Dick woke up in a hospital bed. The Commissioner was sleeping in a chair next to him. Turning his head he noticed something in the shadows by the open window. Batman and Robin. They were watching him. "You let him drug me."

"He drugged you while you were still in the bar. Nothing we could do about that."

"He almost killed me. He's James' twin. Then James tried to kill me. A stripper saved my life."

Robin shuffled forward slightly. "Batman thought it would be best if we waited. You managed to obtain the killers DNA when you scratched him. Really Grayson, as my friend I expected better of you. You clearly showed some talent when we were on the rooftop the other day. I suppose it doesn't matter now as Batman and I took the brothers into custody while that stripper was waiting for the police and ambulance."

"I was drugged. Normal people don't know how to fight when they are high as a kite. You promised you'd have my back."

Dick watched as Robin flinched as if struck. Dick couldn't bring himself to care. "I did. Batman convinced me it was for the best we waited. And you are unharmed."

"Yup. I only have more trauma to add to my nightmares. I thought you wanted to be my friend."

The Commissioner stirred, and Dick turned to look at him, knowing that the Bats would take the opportunity to disappear. That was okay. He didn't really want to talk to them anyways. Not right now. Maybe not ever.

The Commissioner blinked groggily before noticing that Dick was in fact awake. "Oh. You're awake. When I heard what happened, I was afraid that I was going to lose another good cop. What in the good name drove you to go undercover at that strip club when you suspected a serial killer was on the loose? Not to mention going out with James Avery when you suspected that he was somehow involved in the whole thing? You could've been killed!"

Dick blinked. It almost sounded as if the Commissioner cared. "You didn't believe me that there was a serial killer on the loose. I told Batman, and he said he'd look into it. Next thing I know, he's forcing me to go undercover as a stripper to catch this guy. He said he was going to be watching my back. Turns out, he literally meant watching. He watched as they both attacked me and Tarzan saved me. He said he wanted DNA evidence which he got when I scratched them. That he wanted a solid case."

"That sounds like him."

Dick was about to respond when the door to his private hospital room burst open and Hurricane Amy arrived. She was almost in tears as she roughly fluffed his pillows. "You really scared me Grayson. I was tucking my kids in when I got a call telling me that you were in the hospital. Apparently, I'm your emergency contact."

Dick looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course you're my emergency contact. You know that you're the only stable relationship I've ever had. Who else was I going to put down?"

Amy cleared her throat like she was going to cry. If Dick wasn't mistaken, the Commissioner looked sad too. "Sergeant Rohrbach. I'm happy to meet you, I've heard great things. I'm glad that you came, Grayson here needs a ride home. It wouldn't look good if one of Gotham's finest gets arrested for a DUI."

"No problem. It's not like I'm not driving back into Bludhaven anyways."

"Thank you. Grayson, you have tomorrow off, and yes, that's an order."

It took an additional hour for Dick to be able to leave. Apparently, the doctor wanted to check all of his vitals and take one final blood sample. The fact that Dick's only article of clothing were booty shorts was also a problem. He wasn't about to leave the hospital in that thing. It didn't take very much effort on his part to convince the doctors to give him a pair of scrubs.

Once he was in Amy's car, she helped buckle him in as his fine motor skills weren't back yet. She drove for a few minutes in silence, lightly tapping her fingertips against the steering wheel. "I'd prefer it if you weren't alone tonight."

"Is that your way of asking me to stay the night?"

"No. It's my way of making sure that you live till the morning."

"And if I say I rather go home?"

"Than I wake my kids up and tell them that they can go spend the night at Uncle Dick's house. My husband and I can have some much needed alone time."

"Too much information. I think that I'll spend the night on your couch, thank you very much."

An hour later, Amy tucked him in, kissed him on the forehead and whispered that she was glad that he was okay. Dick smiled at her weakly and whispered back, "I'm glad I'm okay too. Thank you for being my friend Amy."

###

The next morning, found Dick playing with Amy's two kids while Amy made pancakes. Dick couldn't cook to save his life, so he was glad that he was getting a free homemade meal. He was sore, and had a bit of a hangover from whatever he was drugged with. The bruises around his neck were vivid, so much so that he buttoned the shirt Amy gave him all the way up to hide them as much as possible. He didn't want Amy's kids to question the marks.

Dick's phone breaking apart the domestic peace. Gently putting down the children, he answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Grayson."

"I know that I said that you had the day off, but James Avery is refusing to talk to anyone but you. His brother isn't talking either. We have enough to put them away, but James' confession could make a huge difference."

"I don't understand. You want me to interview the guy who was ready to kill me last night?"

At this point, Amy was watching him carefully, her eyes stormy. She was obviously not happy about Commissioner Gordon's request. "Yes. Come down whenever it is most convenient for you."

Dick knew that that was an order. And not the kind that Dick could ignore. "Will do, but you have to pay my taxi bill. My car is still in Gotham."

"Fine. I am sorry Grayson. I'll see you later."

Dick sighed and put down his phone. Giving Amy a weak smile, he said, "How are those pancakes going?"

"Oh Dick. Are you okay?"

"No. But I will be. I'm going to talk to the Commissioner after this."

Amy nodded and handed him a plate filled with steaming pancakes. Dick gave her a quiet thank you, before talking animatedly with her kids who wanted to know what he thought the best way to top his pancakes were. He hadn't been lying when he told Amy he was going to be okay. He was already feeling much better thanks to her children.

###

Dick sat down across from James, his expression carefully neutral, and the bruises on his neck in full display. James started to reach out, as if he wanted to touch the bruises, but one sharp look from Dick had him putting his hand down.

"You wanted me here, so here I am. Talk."

"A man punched me. Were you seeing him?"

"A man punched you because you were chasing me and grabbed me by the hair. You ripped a fucking chunk of hair out of my head. I was bleeding. Tarzan, who I never met before that night, defended me."

A muscle in James' cheek jerked violently. Apparently he didn't like that answer. "Why were you there and dressed like that? Prostituting yourself that way?"

"I'm a cop. I was told to go undercover because of my blue eyes. And you should also know that I knew something was off about you since the beginning. It's the only reason I went out with you."

"That's a lie. You kissed me."

"You kissed me and I let you. There's a big difference. So, I have to ask, what was your role in all of this? And why did you do it?"

James sank deeper into his seat, glaring at him. Dick supposed that baiting him wasn't a good idea, but he hadn't been able to help himself. He was just so angry. Three minutes, Dick and James stared at each other in total awkward silence. Finally, James broke. "My twin has always had an unnatural fixation with blue eyes. A few months ago he calls me in the middle of the night in a panic. I arrive only to find that he's killed a stripper. I told him how and where to stage the body so that the police would not investigate. Next thing I know, I'm his lookout as he continues to kill strippers. I didn't know how to stop him. He's my twin. I love him. So one time I painted a something saying 'NO FUTURE FOR YOU'. I figured that some cop might look a little closer into it. That's when you entered. When you saw the graffiti, I decided to go back to other crime scenes and write the message so that you would know it was connected. But like I said, I was just the lookout."

"Your brother committed multiple counts of murder in the first. And you not only enabled him but tried to kill me. Your an accomplice."

James sank down further in his seat, a meek expression on his face. "I'm sorry. I really did love you."

"Love me? You don't even know me. And just for the record, I was playing you like a fiddle the whole time. The only good thing that came out of this whole ordeal was that I realized just how badly I need to get laid."

James lunged at him, and Dick casually moved out of the way before exiting the interrogation room. The Commissioner was standing outside the room, observing them through the two-way window. "Good work Grayson."

"I'm not happy that I was dragged here. I was having a nice morning."

"Oh? Company?"

"Yeah. Amy's kids."

The Commissioner's lips twitched and he looked genuinely amused. "Sounds delightful."

"Yeah it really made me think."

"Oh?"

Dick took a deep breathe and looked the Commissioner straight in the eyes. He waited until he was sure that the man was paying close attention to him. "I talked to my old boss in the BPD this morning. He okayed my transfer request. I'm officially off the GCPD payroll in two weeks. However, considering recent events, I'm sure that you can understand the fact that I'm asking for this to be fast tracked."

"I understand it, but I'm not really sure why."

"You really need to ask that?"

"Batman's like that with everybody."

Dick ran a hand through his hair, wincing when he hand got stuck in dried blood. "And you don't see anything wrong with that? I can't deny that he does great things for the city but his methods are extreme."

"He wanted the DNA."

Dick rolled his eyes. Was the man being purposely dense? "He was testing me! He wanted to see how I would react! Wanted to know what I could do when I was drugged!"

The Commissioner was quiet for a second. "You seem to know an awful lot about how Batman thinks."

"I've met people like him before. Besides, his motives aren't exactly a mystery."

"They are to most people."

"I'm not most people."

"I can see that Grayson. I'll think about your request."

Dick took a deep breathe and let it out slowly. "Thank you, Sir. That's all I can ask."

###

Jim sighed as both Batman and Robin entered his office. They were their usual stoic selves, watching him with alert eyes hidden behind their masks. He let out a sigh, and rubbed his temples. He had lost a good cop because of that man's 'experiments'. "What do I owe this pleasure to?"

"You get a confession?"

"James confessed his role. Would only talk to Grayson though, I had to call the poor guy in after I promised him the day off."

Robin stepped forward and started to inspect Jim's desk carefully. Eventually, the boy decided to speak. "I assume that Grayson will return to work on Monday?"

Jim let out another sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Man, he was going to go bald at this rate and it would all be because of the merry brood of Bats. "No. He tendered his resignation today. He's going back to the BPD. He asked for me to fast track it, and I agreed. He's been a great help, but he was never supposed to be here permanently."

Robin's head shot up and his mouth opened up slightly. Turning an angry shade of red, Robin stormed across the room and out of the window. Jim looked to Batman to see if the man would try and intervene, but he didn't even glance at the boy. For a second, he debated asking what the boy's problem was, but then decided that it would only bring him more stress.

"Anything that you would like to say about Grayson leaving? He's mostly leaving because you're an ass."

Batman didn't look disturbed by his accusation. In fact, he look anything; carefully blank as usual. After a few tense seconds, he let out a small breathe. "It's beneficial if Grayson returns to the BPD. He's a good cop, and I've heard chatter about a potential threat. Bludhaven needs cops like him."

"You did this all on purpose to make him want to transfer."

"Perhaps."

"You're a sick son of a bitch. Do you enjoy messing with people?"

As usual, there was no answer. Batman was long gone.

###

Alfred watched in slight amusement as Damian followed behind him like a ghost. He would bet his tea set gifted to him by the queen herself that the boy wanted something, but was too embarrassed to ask. He would give the boy time. Eventually he would get fed up and ask, despite the fact that he believed it to be completely demeaning experience.

After ten minutes, the boy shuffled a little closer. "Pennyworth. You are old. I assume you have a lot of life experience."

"Indeed I do, Master Damian. Is there anything in particular I can help you with?"

Damian shuffled a little closer. "Hypothetically, if I had a friend, and he was very angry at me, what would I do?"

Alfred paused his dusting. Damian had made a friend? "You would apologize for angering him, Master Damian. Hypothetically of course."

Damian bit his lip. "And if he was so angry that he left the city? He went all the way to Bludhaven to get away from me."

"Oh, Master Damian. I can drive you after school if you wish."

Damian looked even more morose at that thought. "He was friends with Robin, not me."

Alfred closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. "Master Damian, you are Robin, and Robin is you. There is no difference. The only difference is the name that you go by."

Alfred had never seen the boy look quite as vulnerable as he did in that moment. "Okay. What do you think I should do?"

"Why don't you have Master Timothy look up your friend's phone number so that you can text him an apology from your vigilante phone."

"Thank you Pennyworth. That advise was sufficient. Perhaps being so old is not quite as bad as I imagined it to be. I shall now go threaten Drake until he gives me Grayson's phone number."

"Ask nicely Master Damian, or you won't receive any of my lemon poppyseed scones tomorrow morning."

The boy huffed, and walked out of the room with as much dignity as he could muster. Alfred smirked slightly to himself. The boy was far too much like Master Bruce at that age, though it was comforting that he had made a friend. Even if said friend was a cop thirteen years his senior.

Letting out a small sigh, Alfred turned around and continued to dust the Qianlong Vase. It was only matter of time before his next charge came to him with an issue that required his assistance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I hope everybody had happy holidays and an amazing new year! Please REVIEW!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dick woke up with a gasp. His back was drenched in sweat and his chest was heaving. It was four am, and somehow, he didn't think he was going to be able to go back to sleep. Running a hand through his hair, Dick allowed himself a moment to pull himself together. He was okay. The nightmares that were so vivid in his mind were not real. Catalina Flores wasn't back. She was gone. She would never hurt him again. Tarantula was gone.

It was the damn serial killer case. James' brother running unwanted hands all over him and Dick couldn't do shit about it. It was bring back all of the memories that he had thought he had put behind him. Memories that he had shoved so far into a locked box in his mind. He had never even gotten around to telling Bruce about what happened. He had been too ashamed. Too guilty. Had felt like it was his fault.

There was no way that he was going to fall asleep again. It was stupid to even hope. So he did what Bruce did to cope with his constant insomnia. He put on his Nightwing uniform and jumped out of his window and into the cold night air. If there was one thing that would make him feel better guaranteed, it was flying.

###

Red Hood watched in concerned amusement as Nightwing jumped off the tallest building in Bludhaven again and again. Over and over he would dive off the building, waiting until the very last moment to deploy his grapple. Red Hood was worried about the behavior. It was almost if the man was testing how falling felt. Like jumpers who tested the way the wind felt on their skin as they stuck their legs through the safety bars.

Red Hood just waited. He knew that Nightwing saw him. That the man was well aware of his every movement in Bludhaven. Red Hood knew one thing, Batman was wrong to think that this man wasn't prepared to be a vigilante, he was just as prepared as any one of the Bats. He knew that that information would just increase his mentor's paranoia. For now, he his job was to determine whether or not Nightwing was a threat. Not only to Bludhaven, but to the world.

He had already made his decision on that front, the man was quite obviously had good intentions. But Red Hood was not ready to relay this information to his mentor. He liked Nightwing. Liked following him. Liked talking to him. Batman would recall him back to Gotham as soon as he determined that Nightwing was not a menace. So he would wait a little bit longer, pretend that he was doing a real thorough job, and perhaps, he would have the opportunity to talk to the man again. And if he was lucky, maybe they could beat the crap out of some douche together.

An hour later, Nightwing sat down next to him. The man tucked his knees up to his chin, hugging them close to him, as he watched the skyline. Dawn was coming soon, Red Hood wondered briefly if the man was planning on watching the sunrise, or if he was planning on getting sleep tonight.

When Nightwing didn't say anything, Red Hood let out a sigh. This was going nowhere. He didn't have the patience for this. Not at all. Red Robin would be a better choice for somebody to just sit there all morning in silence. "You practicing your swan dive?"

"I like to fly. This is the closest I get these days."

"Fly? Jet planes, helicopters, or something else."

"Or something."

Red Hood shook his was such a Batman response. It was almost like Nightwing had been the one to trained by the Bat and not him. "I know we aren't exactly friends, but is something the matter?"

Nightwing looked at him for a moment, his face usually so impassive, was covered in turmoil. "You're right. It is none of your damn business. But I will tell you this. Batman is an asshole."

"Not that I disagree with you, because I don't, but why is he an asshole?"

"I assume you know who my source inside the PD is?"

"Amy Rohrbach most recently, but formally it was Richard 'Dick' Grayson."

Nightwing didn't look surprised by the fact that Red Hood knew who his contacts were. In fact, he almost looked like he was expecting that answer. "You hear about what happened in Gotham? Or do you Bats not talk to each other about different missions?"

"I heard bits and pieces. Mostly how your boy had the balls to start rumors about Batman being in love with him."

"Did you hear how Batman allowed him to be drugged by the serial killer they were chasing? That he was almost raped and killed because Batman wanted to 'test' him."

"Sounds like Batman. You can see now why we don't always get along. He's a major douchebag."

"You are nowhere near as innocent as you make yourself out to be, so you can quit the act."

Clutching at his heart dramatically, because what fun was life without some form of theatrics, Red Hood proclaimed, "Just what in the world are you accusing me of? I won't have you sully my good name with these lies!"

Nightwing let out a startled laugh. "I think you might be suited to get a job in Hollywood."

"Oh, you think I could make it big as some hotshot actor? Emphasis on the hot part, cause I can assure you that under this helmet, my face is a work of art."

"I was thinking more along the lines of a star in some trashy reality show. And I won't even comment on your face."

"Fuck you. My face is amazing. Much better than Dick Grayson's. I don't get why everybody on the face of the planet takes one look and is instantly lusting after him. Wait, don't tell me, you have a thing for him too."

"Uh no. Not my type."

"What is your type?"

Nightwing paused as if debating how to answer. Finally he settled on, "Redheads." Red Hood would stake his multibillion dollar inheritance that that wasn't what the man had originally wanted to say. But that was okay. He would get it out of him eventually. He would just have to be his annoyingly charming self. Not that many people described him as 'charming', but red Hood would argue that other vigilantes found his penchant for violence endearing.

Nightwing shifted, tilting his head up as if to absorb the first few beams of sunlight. Taking a deep breathe, Nightwing sagged, allowing the stress of the last week to leave his body. Glancing at Red Hood, he gave a ghost of a smile. "I should go. I won't be able to sleep, but maybe I can rest for an hour before I have to get up for work."

"Good luck with that. And I'd recommend taking a shower if you don't work as a garbage man."

"You trying to say something?"

"Yeah, you fucking stink."

"No you stink, I smell like fucking roses."

Red Hood snorted, and Nightwing sent a small wink before jumping off the building and disappearing into the morning light. Red Hood took off his helmet, simultaneously fishing a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket. Taking a deep inhale, he waited a brief moment before exhaling it like a pro. Nightwing was a man shrouded in mystery, and Red Hood planned on sticking around and figuring out every single one of them.

###

Tim narrowed his eyes as he stared at the email from the R&D department at Wayne Enterprises stating that they reached a standstill in their research into creating technology that could connect the brain to prosthetics. Apparently, they needed another one hundred grand before they can even consider the next steps.

Taking a load slurp of his third cup of coffee, Tim responded to the email, well aware that Damian was lurking behind him. Brat was probably going to attempt to stab him. Again. Oh well, if he didn't acknowledge the brat there was the possibility that the pest would walk away.

Apparently he was out of luck. The Son of Satan skulked closer before slamming his laptop closed. Tim looked up, lip curling in distaste. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was people mistreating his baby.

Damian didn't say anything. Just looked at him, his stare penetrating Tim's very soul. Tim took another sip of his coffee, slurping it extra loud just to annoy Damian. Sure enough, a muscle in the boy's cheek spasmed violently. Tim smirked internally. Well maybe it was external if Damian's hand reaching for the butter knife counted as evidence.

Finally the boy growled a frustrated noise. Apparently, he was angry that Tim was not a mind reader. That was okay, Damian was always mad about something. The boy seriously needed to see a therapist, or at the very least make a friend. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice whispered that Damian may act tough, but he was just a scared kid like the rest of them. Tim ignored it.

"Drake. Pennyworth has assured me that you are competent for the emergent task that I am grudgingly requesting that you assist me in."

"What?"

"Are you an imbecile as well as generally incompetent?"

"No, but people don't usually speak in tongues when they are asking for help."

Damian looked like he was ready to explode, and Tim belatedly wondered if he should yell for Alfred and Bruce before his younger brother attempted to murder him. Oh well, it's not like it mattered anyways. Heroes didn't tend to stay dead very long these days.

Finally, Damian pursed his lips in a manner that was so similar to Bruce, that it was obvious that they were related. "Fine. I will speak simply so that you can keep up. I require you to give me Richard Grayson's phone number. He is my friend, but I fear that he is angry with me."

"Considering your attitude, I'm not surprised that he figured out that you're more trouble than you're worth."

Tim regretted his words the second that he saw the hurt and insecurity flash across Damian's face. The boy looked down at his hands, and mumbled something that Tim could barely make out. "It's not my fault. Father angered him greatly and I did nothing to prevent it."

If Tim didn't already feel bad, he did now. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. His cell phone number is in the Batcomputer. Look under Police Contacts, Bludhaven, Grayson. If you can't find it, let me know. Sometimes Jason likes to hide files to see if I can recover them.

Damian sniffed, but he did not look nearly as violent as he did earlier in the day. "Thank you for your assistance. It has been most helpful."

Tim watched as Damian walked away. What was that? Did Damian just thank him? He was officially in the Twilight Zone. Tim took another sip of his coffee, shrugged, and opened his laptop back up. He needed to respond to that email.

###

Dick was sitting in the patrol car with Amy. The department had stuck Dick with Amy, something about having to unlearn all the awful traits he had picked up from Gotham. Dick didn't mind, he liked spending time with Amy. Right now they were enjoying coffee, and Dick was satisfying his sweet tooth by eating the most sugary pastry he had ever tasted. It almost made his his teeth hurt in the best way possible. Amy didn't seem to agree with his assessment if the incredulous look she sent his way was any indication.

"Grayson. What the hell are you eating?"

"Pastry. Duh."

"What kind of pastry? That thing does not look like anything I've seen before."

"Dunno. It tastes like pure sugar. Wanna have a bite?"

"No."

Dick shrugged and went back to eating and sipping at his coffee. When his phone buzzed in his pocket, Dick stuffed the remainder of the pastry in his mouth and wiped the sticky sugar off of his fingers and onto his pants. Alfred would've killed him if he had seen that. Too bad he wasn't here and therefore couldn't stare him into washing his hands and then washing and ironing his pants.

Dick frowned. He had a text from an undisclosed number, which was odd.

Unknown: I am disappointed that you moved back to Bludhaven. I must apologize for my behavior the other night.

Dick: Who is this?

Unknown: This is your friend Robin.

Dick raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. The numbers for the Batfam must have changed again. Too many people must have known the previous numbers. That, or one of them got compromised. Again.

Amy saw his look, and leaned over so that she could read over his shoulder. Dick smirked, and angeled the phone so that she could see better. Dick knew that she had read the conversation when she raised an eyebrow.

Dick: Oh? To what do I owe the pleasure of your conversation? And how did you get my number?

Robin: Red Robin gave it to me after some persuasion.

Dick: Huh. I hope you didn't hurt him to badly. And you didn't answer my original question

Robin: Do not concern yourself with Red Robin. I wanted to apologize.

Dick: I should apologize to you too. I shouldn't have talked to you like that.

Robin: Perhaps I deserved it

Dick: You didn't. And even if you did, I'm an adult and you aren't. I shouldn't have talked to you like that.

Robin: I am not a child.

Dick: But you aren't an adult yet either.

Robin: I have seen more horrors that any adult you know

Dick: You should not say stuff like that if you do not know other people's life stories

Robin: Will you tell me yours?

Dick: Not until the third date

Robin: ?

Dick: Joke. Ask me again when we know each other better.

Robin: I shall hold you to that. Unfortunately, I must leave this conversation as my father insists that I attend school, despite the fact that it is so mundane and I don't learn anything.

Dick: Goodbye Robin. Have a nice day at school.

Dick didn't receive another text, Damian had most likely gone to school. Or perhaps, Bruce had taken his phone away. Dick was just glad that Damian had dropped the asking about his past. He really didn't want to get into it, nor did he want to have to remember what lies, if any, he told the curious bugger. He loved his younger brother. He did, but sometimes he forgot what it was like to have the full force of the Batfam's curiosity directed his way.

Amy gave him a look that Dick didn't even want to try and interpret as he put his phone away. Dick just sniffed and took a long, final sip of his coffee. He wasn't in the mood to fight with her and her all too knowing eyes. And like the saint she secretly was, Amy let it go.

###

Nightwing was almost disappointed by the lack of Red Hood tonight. He definitely had Stockholm Syndrome. In a way it was refreshing. He went about his night acting like he did when he was the lone hero of Bludhaven. Apparently, even the residents of Bludhaven had noticed that they had managed to gain another vigilante.

It was nice to work alone again. Freeing, He didn't have to hold back, aware that his shadow would not only be reporting to Batman, but the Justice League. Licking his lips slightly, Dick ignored his loneliness, and jumped off of the rooftop he was currently residing on; swinging off into the night's sky.

###

Red Hood's lip curled as he leaned against a pillar and stared at the visage of Earth in front of him. He rather be in Bludhaven than here. Justice League meetings were the bane of his existence. He was the point and shoot guy, not the let's talk about our week and potentially a crisis of national security, Batman insisted, and as much as he liked to give the man the metaphorical and literal middle finger, today was not the day. He just hoped Nightwing wouldn't be too lonely without him. Who was he kidding, the guy was probably leaping off a building in joy to have finally lost his Bat shadow.

The League was talking about their cities and blah blah blah. Red Hood couldn't care less. They all lead boring lives. Gotham was were it's at. Well Gotham and Bludhaven. Red Hood tooned out the entire conversation, absentmindedly playing with one of his knives. It was only when he heard the magic words that he actually started paying attention. "Batman, I need your help."

It was Superdouche who uttered the magic words. Red Hood studied the man curiously. He seemed almost nervous. His brothers were also studying the man in front of him. Red Hood could feel their penetrative stares, and they weren't even directed his way.

"Um. The President asked me to investigate the satellite that fell into the ocean. Aquaman allowed me to visit the remnants, but I'll be honest they don't mean much to me. I was hoping to find something to link it to a country, but there wasn't any that I could find. The President wants to know where it came from, because it wasn't a registered satellite, he's afraid that it's an enemy nation's spy satellite."

Batman made a slight grunting noise, but otherwise said nothing, continuing to use his infamous glare on the all American Superhero.

"Bruce. You know the President does not like your methods. You cannot be offended that he asked me to investigate. Nor can you blame me for asking for help."

"Hmmm. Red Robin will investigate."

"You can't be serious. Is this because I used your first name and not your alias?"

Batman's lip curled. "No. Red Robin is more than capable of determining the origin of the satellite. His detective skills have been noted to be quite remarkable by both myself and Ra's al Ghul. If that weren't enough, Gotham has been quite busy lately, and I must focus on protecting my city. Robin and Red Robin do not work well together and Red Hood is currently in Bludhaven analyzing the threat level of the new vigilante. Something that is taking more time than I expected."

Red Hood was glad that his helmet covered his face. Batman would not easily see his unease, the lies that would otherwise be obviously dancing across his features. Maybe they wouldn't be obvious to the other members of the Justice League, but they certainly would be to his family. Hence the reason he chose to incorporate a helmet into his uniform. It provided head protection, face concealment, and a fucking awesome explosive.

Of course it was the Green Flashlight that broke the silence. "Well I don't blame Hood. Nightwing is either an asshole or an idiot. I mean only an asshole or an idiot would choose not to meet me. I'm amazing! Who doesn't want to meet me or be seen with me? Learn from me? I could've taught him how to be a real hero!"

Red Hood felt his lips twitch, and a chuckle escaped his lips. Once one escaped, the rest burst out of his mouth in an avalanche of roaring laughter. Next to him, Red Robin burst out laughing, and even Robin let out a stray chuckle. Batman's lips curved up slightly in the corners, which meant that he was laughing hysterically internally.

Or well, as close to laughing hysterically as Batman got. Green Flashlight looked terribly offended, which made the experience all the more hilarious. Shaking his head once, twice, three times, Red Hood attempted to reign in his laughter. "Man. I never knew you were so funny. You a role model? That's fucking gold!"

"I wasn't trying to be funny."

"Oh. It's still fucking hilarious. Besides, we weren't laughing with you, we were laughing at you."

"Batman, you need to teach your kid manners."

For the first time, Red Robin looked up from his computer. Red Hood would bet that if he had glasses on, he would've pushed them up his nose for nerdy effect. "Believe it or not, Red Hood actually has the best manners of the lot of us when he wants to. Pulls off the whole Shakespearean charm thing. Problem is, he never wants to."

"Damn straight I don't."

Wonder Babe opened her mouth and Robin growled. The kid really hated her. Funny thing was, he kinda reminded Red Hood of a Chiwawa that thought he was a Doberman. Wonder Babe sent a glare the Tater Tots' way, continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted. "I do believe that we are quite off topic."

The Replacement rolled his eyes dramatically behind his mask. "I'll look into the satellite. Aquaman, if you could have a few of your subjects take photos of the remains at every angle, it would be most helpful. I'll send you a few Wayne Tech High Pressure Underwater Cameras."

"That sounds like ego. I'm sure Star Tech would be just as qualified."

The Replacement snorted unattractively. "I could list reasons that the Wayne Tech camera was better all day. The short story is that the Wayne Tech cameras hold up better at high pressures and take higher resolution photos. They also mark exact longitude and latitude coordinates, as well as time, altitude, temperature, and a few other factors."

Wonder Woman sniffed, what it meant, Red Hood didn't know. She could have been dismissing his brother or accepting the facts. Either way, she was a bitch.

The Demon Brat murmured something under his breath, but Red Hood could swear he heard the word 'whore.'

The master of doom and gloom, the one and only Batman, expertly changed the topic, and continued on the meeting of death. God he was so bored. Maybe he could take a nap. Next time Batman requested his presence for a Justice League meeting, he was going to shove his fucking request up his ass and choke on it.

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A/N: So that took longer than expected to complete the chapter. Mostly just filler stuff to kind of set up the next few chapters. I gotta say that I am loving all the reviews that I've been receiving. I love the really articulate ones but I also love the ones that simply say "Please update" because it makes me happy that you guys are thinking about my story. I do have a lot of schoolwork right now, which is another reason that it took longer to update, so I'm not sure when exactly the next update will be.

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THE MORE REVIEWS I RECEIVE...THE MORE INSPIRED I FEEL...AND THE MORE I TYPE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I forgot to post and stuff. For those who asked about my posting schedule, the answer is that I don't have one.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Red Robin frowned as he sat down on top of his favorite gargoyle. There was a mass Arkham breakout, so Batman wanted all hands on deck. Red Hood had only stuck around long enough to put the Joker in a full body cast, before heading over to Bludhaven. His excuse was that some of the villains may have crossed over the river and Nightwing may not be equipped to handle them. It was a flimsy excuse, and everybody knew it. Batman may have not said it in front of the League, but they all knew that Red Hood was hanging around Bludhaven because he liked the new hero.   
Red Robin couldn’t blame him. He wished that he could escape the city right about now too. Or at least work on the mysterious satellite case. Though that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, Batman had made sure of that. The man was literally putting up every roadblock that he could. Right now, it was the Arkham excuse, later it would be some other case that needed his undivided attention. Red Robin was pretty sure that man was just acting petty because the government went to Superman to investigate despite the fact that Batman was known to be the better investigator by far.   
Red Robin could understand the feeling. Probably better than most. He was the most similar to Batman when it came to mannerism and his thought process. Point was, he understood the urge to be petty, but at the same time, he was dying of curiosity. Evidence was decaying at every passing second. He really wanted to start his investigation, but he had to obey orders.   
Red Robin could never figure out why Batman had joined the League to begin with. When asked, the man brushed it off or furrowed his brows. It was almost like the man didn’t actually remember his reasonings. Red Hood had once told him that Batman had joined the League before he became Robin, but had never had any interest in socializing with the rest of the members. He was a part timer, only there for ‘real’ world emergencies, and not the friendships.   
Red Robin always wondered if Batman would have become friends, or at least tolerate, the rest of the League if Red Hood had been more interested in them. If Red Hood had forced the issue, had hero worshipped Superman. Perhaps, then Batman wouldn’t be quite as lonely with only his children knowing all of his secrets.  
There was another thing that bothered him. Batman, Alfred, and Red Hood had zero clue where the name Robin came from. Red Hood said that Batman came up with it, but Batman claimed that Red Hood came up with it. Alfred, the man with the best memory of anybody Red Robin knew, couldn’t remember where exactly it came from. It was weird, and concentrating on it, gave Red Robin a headache. He just had the feeling that he was forgetting something important, and for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it was. He just had this feeling, and Red Robin had learned a long time ago to trust his instincts.   
###  
Nightwing shivered. It was freezing outside tonight. Sometimes, he really wished that he had included a cape in his costume, that way he would have an extra layer of insulation. Granted, he really shouldn’t be complaining. If he really wanted to, he could have put on the ‘winter’ version of his Nightwing costume. Really, the only difference was that the material was slightly thicker and designed to withstand the cold. Then there was the Arctic version, but that was a different story. Point was, he hadn’t thought that it was cold enough to bring out the winter suit. How wrong he was.   
At the moment, he was sitting on the fire escape near Amy’s building. He was close enough to see Amy through the window, but he knew for a fact that it was nearly impossible for anyone else to spot him. It was relaxing to see her reading to her kids, both of them cuddled close. He had never had that with Bruce. Sometimes, if he was lucky, Bruce read to him, but they had never cuddled. Though, to be fair, at the time, he didn’t want Bruce to replace his parents.   
Nightwing sighed. He missed his parents, or well the idea of them. He remembered them, of course he did, but the images blurred together to the point that he wasn’t sure how much was real and how much he remembered due to stories that Pop Haley had told him over the years. At some point, when he thought of the word ‘dad’ he started to think of Bruce.   
Sighing, Nightwing rubbed his eyes and looked around. It was a beautiful night. Even if he was freezing his butt off. Glancing back at the window, Nightwing frowned. Was that a reflection of a rifle muzzle? Turning around fast enough to give himself whiplash, Nightwing spotted the barrel of a rifle peering over the edge of the nearby roof.   
He could feel the panic. Whoever it was, they were aiming for Amy’s apartment. So he did the only thing that he could do. He pulled out a smoke bomb, activated the five second timer, and threw it as far up and out as he could. Seconds later, a large cloud of black smoke exploded, covering the street, building, and nearby areas in black.   
Hastily, Nightwing touched the side of his mask, switching the vision so that he could see through the smoke. The only thing that he saw was the briefest flash of orange and black before it was gone. Quickly digging his respirator out of his glove compartment, Nightwing shoved it into his mouth and swung across the street and onto the rooftop. There was nothing there, only a residential heat signature. But Nightwing knew what he saw, Deathstroke was in his city. And he was after Amy and her family.   
###  
Dick pulled his jacket closer. It was five a.m. and he was meeting one of his skeevy contacts by the name of Twitch. Granted, he was going as “Flip” the parkour pick pocket, so there was that. If anybody knew what was happening in the city, it was Twitch. There was a reason behind his name, the guy was so paranoid about everything that he was constantly twitching.   
Dick rubbed his hands together and waited. He watched as Twitch peered around the corner and slowly approached him. “Flip. I hear you wanted to speak to me.”  
“Thanks for coming. I have a problem. You see I was casing this place, when this guy in orange and black pointed a gun at me. Before he could shoot, black smoke appeared everywhere and I ran. I just want to know if I need to lay low.”  
Twitch well, twitched before looking around the alley like he was afraid by the mere mention, Deathstroke might appear. “He’s not here for you. He’s here for a cop. Amy something or another. I think it starts with an ‘R’. I hear that she pissed off some of the city officials by arresting ignoring their wishes and arresting multiple corrupt higher ups.”  
“Holy shit. Somebody’s actually trying to make this city better? I’m not sure whether to appload her or call her crazy.”  
“Definitely has balls. Could do this damn city some good.”  
Dick smiled slightly. Twitch was a better person than they gave him credit for. “Any idea who the hitman is?”  
Twitch got even more nervous, which basically confirmed Dick’s suspicions. “His name is Deathstroke. Don’t get involved Flip. Not if you know what’s good for you. The things he’s done, they are enough to keep you up at night, and those are the things that have been connected to him. I really should go. Stay safe.”  
“Thank you Twitch. Keep your head low.”  
Dick walked away, a hardness taking over his face. Slade was back. And this time he was after Amy. He may not remember the pain he inflicted on Dick, but should a single hair on Amy’s head be harmed, he would inflict that pain on him tenfold. There was no way in hell that Dick would allow Amy to be harmed. Not as long as he was alive to protect her.  
###  
Amy frowned. Dick was tenser than usual, scanning rooftops and nearby windows in a way that reminded her of soldiers looking for snipers. He was quite obviously freaked out, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why. If anything, she should be the one freaked out after last night. A black cloud of smoke had exploded outside her apartment window, scaring her and her kids. She had quickly shoved her kids under their beds before hiding behind the kitchen counter with her gun in hand. She stayed there all night.   
Dick shifted his focus so that he was looking at her. His face was harder than usual, no trace of his usual grin in sight. There was almost something fractured in his eyes. Amy wouldn’t say that it frightened her per say, but it certainly unnerved her.   
“Grayson. What the hell is going on with you.”  
Dick looked at her for a long moment, just taking in her features. Amy waited patiently, knowing that eventually he would speak his mind, but if she pushed him, he would shut down. “You know how you were talking about the black smoke this morning?”  
“What of it? It scared me, but it’s nothing that I can’t deal with.”  
Dick figited. “You can’t deal with this. You need to get out of town and tell nobody where you are going. In fact, you need League protection.”  
“What in the world are you talking about?”  
“Look. Nightwing was the one that caused the black smoke. But he did it to protect you.”  
Dick looked around before lowering his voice to a near whisper. “Some bigwigs in the city ordered a hit on you. And it’s not just any hitman Amy. It’s Deathstroke.”  
“It’s nice that you are worried Dick, but I can take care of myself.”  
“Damn it Amy! This isn’t a joke! Deathstroke is one of the League’s biggest enemies for a good reason! He’s dangerous! And he’s after you! Let me tell you something about him, once he sets his sights on you, he won’t stop until you end up in a bodybag or something better catches his interest.”  
“Why do you care so much? It’s my life!”  
“You have kids! A husband! And if for some reason that’s not enough, you’re all I have left in the world! So if you won’t stay safe for them, do it for me!”  
Amy paused. She hadn’t meant to be so stubborn, but Dick drove her crazy sometimes. He was standing in front of her, red faced and panting. He was clearly distraught, and it made Amy once again wondered what her partner had gone through in the past. He was so secretive, and Amy had learned that he had more triggers than than even the touchiest of street rats.   
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’ll see about some time off, but Dick I can’t leave the city. My husband has work and my children have school.”  
“Just be careful.”  
“Dick?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Don’t do anything stupid. You’re important to me too.”  
Amy couldn’t help but smile when a grin blossomed across Dick’s face. It lit up his features in a way that made Amy think of sunlight peeking through storm clouds. It was rejuvenating. And reassuring. The best part and perhaps the only part that mattered was that when he smiled like that, Amy had hope that he would one day be okay.  
###  
Nightwing chewed his lip as he scanned the area. There was no sight of Deathstroke anywhere, but that didn’t mean anything. He was here somewhere, Dick could feel it in his bones. Red Hood was probably lurking somewhere in the city, but Nightwing didn’t care. Red Hood could wait, finding Deathstroke couldn’t.   
Nightwing jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder, reacting instinctively and sweeping his leg out, knocking his attacker off of their feet and onto their back. Nightwing rolled on top of them, a ‘wing ding’ in his hand and pressed against their throat. It was only when there was no struggle that Nightwing truly looked and noticed that he was on top of his brother.   
He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. He just rolled off his brother and hugged his knees. Red Hood for his part didn’t yell or rant or call him a basket case, which was unusual to some degree. He just sat there and watched him, as if trying to figure out what was going threw his head by reading his mind.  
He must have decided that he was not a mind reader, because he spoke up first. “What’s up? You’re jumpier than usual.”  
“Amy was almost killed last night.”  
Nightwing didn’t bother specifying who Amy was, Red Hood knew. The guy might not have figured out his secret identity, but it was sure not for a lack of trying. The guy probably knew all of his acquaintances better than he did at this point.   
“Is she all right?”  
“Only because I was there.”  
“Do you know who tried to kill her?”  
“Yes. That’s the problem.”  
“I don’t know what that means.”  
Nightwing paused, debating what if anything he should tell Red Hood. Red Hood waited patiently, well as patiently as possible for him. He was tapping his fingers on his leg as he waited for an answer. “You have to understand, city officials hired this guy to kill her. She’s been making a stir by arresting all the corrupt higher ups.”  
“Who did they hire?”  
Nightwing turned to look at him, his face pale and drawn. “Slade Wilson. They hired Deathstroke.”  
###  
Robin frowned as he surveyed the city. They had caught most of the escaped criminals. The only people still missing were Scarecrow and Mad Hatter. It was unusual that there was no trace of their particular brand of madness anywhere in the city. Robin couldn’t figure out why. They were usually the first to be caught as they were some of the lamer villains that Gotham had to offer.   
Robin wrinkled his nose and shuffled before swinging to the next rooftop. Grayson hadn’t responded to any of his text messages today. Perhaps Drake was right and he had sounded like some sort of robot trying to impersonate a human. It certainly would explain why Grayson had yet to respond. Though, he hadn’t seemed bothered by his texting style earlier. Grayson had mentioned that he had friends in Bludhaven, perhaps he didn’t believe that he needed Robin to be his friend anymore.   
Robin pursed his lips. Grayson didn’t seem the type to stop texting his friend just because he had new friends. Perhaps he was just busy. It was reasonable to assume that people had lives. Robin knew that Grayson had an interesting life, most of which was shrouded in mystery. Like what he meant by him experiencing darkness.   
Or perhaps, it was due to his lack of experience socializing. Red Robin and Red Hood often made fun of him for it. They compared him to a robot or to an android. One time, they even compared him to the Tin Man from a movie they were washing. Something about having no heart, and being made of metal. Damian couldn’t claim to be listening.  
Swinging to the top of Wayne Tower, Robin waited. As expected, Batman appeared only seconds later on the opposite side of the rooftop. “Father.”  
“Robin. How did your search turn up?”  
“I found no evidence of either Mad Hatter or Scarecrow. I do believe that they are not within the city limits of Gotham anymore, Father.”  
“Mad Hatter and Scarecrow are not known to travel outside of Gotham. Keep looking. I need to check with Red Hood on how his investigation into the Bludhaven hero is going, and I Red Robin asked me earlier if he has the okay to start the investigation into the satellite.”  
The implied ‘I don’t have time to look for them’ was clear. Robin got the message loud and clear. It would be up to him to make sure that Scarecrow and Mad Hatter were caught. Crossing his arms, Robin nodded, knowing that he looked less than pleased. His father would understand that he wasn’t happy with this arrangement.   
His father never had time for him. It was always all about Red Hood and Red Robin. Which was stupid, he was the blood son. His father should give his undivided attention to him. The others simply weren’t worthy. Well, perhaps Pennyworth was.   
Batman left without so much as a goodbye. Robin had learned to expect it. It didn’t matter, goodbyes were pointless anyway. He supposed that he could scour the city one more time for Scarecrow and Mad Hatter before he headed back to the cave. Pausing before he jumped off of the roof, Robin took out his phone. He might as well text Grayson quickly. Just to make sure that the man is okay.   
Robin: I hope that today finds you well. Red Robin often tells me that while texting I sound like I am attempting to impersonate a normal human. I apologize.  
Deciding that the text was good enough, Robin jumped off of the roof for one last search. He would have to hurry, lest Pennyworth be angry that he was out too late on a school night again. Not that there was any point in him attending school. Not that it mattered, he would be home long before his assigned curfew.  
###  
Nightwing ran a hand through his hair. They had yet to find out where Deathstroke was hiding. He had to be here somewhere. Red Hood had insisted on helping him ‘catch the bastard,’ and Nightwing hadn’t been able to think of any way to get rid of him. Not that he exactly wanted to get rid of him. The company was nice.  
They were following Amy around. Nightwing was angry that despite all of her assurances earlier, she wasn’t being nearly as careful as she had said that she would be. There were ample opportunities for somebody like Slade Wilson to kill her, which made Nightwing all the more paranoid.   
Nightwing loved his brother. He really did, but him stating things like Deathstroke’s success rate was not helping. If Red Hood remembered that they were brothers, Nightwing would have used Red Robin’s hacking tool to hack his helmet and turn off the microphone so that he didn’t have to listen to his brother. But as it was, Red Hood wouldn’t appreciate it or find it remotely funny.   
Licking his lips, Dick jumped over to the next building, Red Hood close on his heels. It was close to dawn. It was unlikely that Deathstroke would strike tonight, a fact that he told Red Hood.   
“I know. I’m here to babysit you, you moron. The last thing I need is Batman getting on my case because you did something stupid while I was supposed to be watching you.”  
“I’m surprised that you haven’t called him.”  
Red Hood shifted to look at him, like he was surprised that Nightwing even considered it. “Believe me, the last thing you want is to invite the Bat to your city. He’ll take it as a standing invitation to invade your city any time he wants. Besides, I’ve watched you for a while now, and you seem more than competent. The only reason I’m sticking around is because I find you interesting and because Deathstroke is big time.”  
“You find me interesting?”  
“Yeah. Besides, you’re better company than my brothers.”  
Nightwing stilled, his mouth twitching into a smile. If only Red Hood knew that he was in fact his oldest brother. And that Red Hood actually hated him. How ironic was it that now Red Hood preferred his company to anybody else’s. Oh man, if he had told Red Hood in the past that they would be practically best friends, his younger brother would have laughed his ass off before pulling a gun and shooting him.   
“I find that hard to believe. But I’ll take the compliment. I should really call it a night. But I would appreciate it if you kept an eye on Amy until daybreak.”  
“It won’t make a difference you know. He’s just as likely to attack during the day.”  
Nightwing couldn’t help flinching. “I know. But I would feel better if you watched her until at the very least she’s at the police station.”  
“Fine. Whatever. Only because I like you.”  
Nightwing gave a slow smirk and gazed up at his brother through his eyelashes, not that Red Hood could appreciate the last detail due to the mask. Lowering his voice slightly, Nightwing said, “Well I guess that I’m lucky that you like me then, aren’t I?”  
Red Hood burst did a double take, and Nightwing couldn’t help but burst out laughing. When he finally calmed himself, he gave Red Hood a two finger salute before jumping off of the roof and swinging away.   
It was only after he was home and had completed his transformation into Dick Grayson that he saw the text messages.   
Robin: Hello. How are you today?  
Robin: Red Robin is dreadfully annoying.   
Robin: Perhaps you have siblings that annoy you?  
Robin: I hope that today finds you well. Red Robin often tells me that while texting I sound like I am attempting to impersonate a normal human. I apologize.  
Dick furrowed his brows and then checked the time. It was five a.m. He could text his little brother back now, and it wouldn’t be odd that he was up.   
Dick: Hey. Sorry that I didn’t respond, but it’s been an eventful day. I can’t talk about it right now, but I’ll tell you once the issue is resolved.  
Dick: I like the way you text, so don’t worry about it.   
Dick: And don’t hurt your brother!!! Siblings are supposed to be annoying!!!  
Satisfied that he had done his brotherly duty and warned Damian to not harm Tim, Dick settled down in his bed for a quick nap. His shift only started at noon today. Something about budget cuts. It was no matter, Dick was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.   
###  
Tim arrived home after school to find Barbara having tea with Alfred. The elderly butler, dutifully vacated his seat, and handed Tim his own mug with five sugars and a dash of cream, something that Tim had heard Jason called sacrilege and wouldn’t be surprised if Alfred agreed. Barbara gave him a warm smile, and adjusted her wheelchair so that she was facing him more directly.   
Barbara had been coming around for afternoon tea for as long as Tim could remember. He didn’t mind. Barbara might be a spitfire, but she was kind and always helped him when he needed it. When he had gone to his first highschool party and accidently gotten drunk on spiked punch, Tim had called her. She picked him up no questions asked, and proceeded to lie to Bruce, saying that he was staying the night to help her with something. Tim knew that Bruce didn’t believe her, but he had never asked any questions, and if he had interrogated Barbara, she hadn’t given him up.   
They sat in compatible silence for half an hour before Barbara put down her cup and let out a small sigh. “You know, it’s odd. Whenever I’m in this house, I feel like I’m forgetting something really important. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember what it is.”  
Tim stayed silent. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He knew exactly what Barbara was talking about, he felt that way daily. He had gotten so good at ignoring the feeling, that he forgot half the time. “My dad keeps telling me that if it’s something important, I’ll remember eventually. But I haven’t remembered, and something tells me that this is important. I don’t know, it’s weird, right? Anyways, I gotta go.”  
Tim put his hand on her arm to stop her from rolling away. “It’s not weird, but I’m sure that if anyone were to figure it out, it would be you. Your brain is remarkable.”  
Barbara offered him a slight smile, one that Tim returned. “Speaking of your remarkable brain, would you like to do me a favor?”  
“Tell me what it is, and I’ll consider it.”  
“League wants me to investigate a mysterious satellite that crashed into the ocean. Thing is, no country is claiming it as theirs, and according to our government, it’s not one of ours. I was hoping you can try and dig up something.”  
“You want me to hack into the government servers and trace where this mysterious satellite came from?”  
“Yes. I did some preliminary searches, but found nothing. Granted Bats is determined that I don’t start seriously looking into it for another month. He claims that it has nothing to do with the fact that the government asked Superman to look into it, but he’s not fooling anyone.”  
“Superman? Really? He’s not exactly known for his detective skills.”  
“Right? I mean kitten in a tree I understand, but finding out the origins and purpose of a crashed satellite at the bottom of the ocean? That’s not exactly his expertise.”  
“I’ll look into it. Anything else?”  
Tim was about to say no, when he got a text message. Frowning, he opened his phone.  
Damian: Please inform Gordon that she should track down the locations of Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, no response to this text message is necessary.  
Tim: I hope you don’t text your new friend like this. You sound like an alien attempting to blend in with humans.  
Damian didn’t respond, but there was an enraged screech that came from the vent above him. Tim wasn’t really worried. Damian wouldn’t try to kill him as long as Barbara was here. “The Banshee who’s spying on us instead of joining us like a normal human being, wants to know if you can track Scarecrow and Mad Hatter.”  
“Any reason that he couldn’t ask me himself? Or why he was screeching seconds ago in the vent? Or why he’s in the vent to begin with?”  
“He’s weird. That should answer any and all questions relating to him.” A knife flew out of the vent and narrowly missed hitting him as he grabbed his tea cup. Tim didn’t even blink, he had seen that coming miles away.  
“I may have also called him an emotionless droid who was trying to impersonate a person. I don’t think he liked that description very much. I, on the other hand, found it hilarious and accurate.”  
“Well, as nice as this has been, I have to get going. I’ll let you know as soon as I have something.”  
Tim walked her to the door, noting that Alfred was already waiting to take her home. Tim waved, closing the door behind him. With a small sigh, Tim returned to the kitchen to grab a cookie. He had homework to do, and then he needed to contact Aquaman about sending some of his people to take photos of the satellite. Maybe if he was lucky, Aquaman would agree that the time needed for a three dimensional scan of the remains would be beneficial to the investigation. And if he was really lucky, Damian wouldn’t try to murder him for another twenty-four hours.   
###  
Nightwing had just situated himself on the roof when he felt it. His arm hairs all raised, and he ducked, knowing that his instincts were never wrong. Sure enough, a bullet hit the wall behind him. Situated in a low crouch, Nightwing narrowed his eyes. Out of the shadows, stepped Slade Wilson, gun still raised and aimed in his direction. Good. If was aiming at Nightwing than he wasn’t aiming at Amy.   
Nightwing slowly reached back and pulled out his escrima sticks. Giving them a small twirl, he gave Deathstroke a dark smirk. “Ah, the new hero. Let’s see how you fare against a real villain.”  
Nightwing didn’t respond, just waited for Deathstroke to telegraph a move. When his foot moved slightly to the left, Nightwing knew that he was about to side step and shoot at him. Doing a forward roll onto his feet, Nightwing did a series of complicated flips towards the hitman. Besides looking cool, the flips made it hard to hit him. Nightwing had spent hundreds of hours perfecting the flips until they became second nature, and appeared like he was not abiding by the laws of physics.   
Once he was within close range, Deathstroke took out a hunting knife and began to slash at him. They entered a dance that Nightwing was quite familiar with. The best part of this whole ordeal was that Deathstroke did not remember their previous altercations, and therefore did not know his fighting style. Unlike Nightwing, who knew the way Slade fought like the back of his hand.   
With a brutal roundhouse kick to the man’s head, Nightwing knocked him off of his feet. From there, it was easy to disarm the man and put his own knife against his throat. Nightwing knew that he looked positively feral. He also knew that he had intrigued Deathstroke by ‘besting’ him, which was the only reason that he allowed them to remain in this position.   
“You’re good. I could make you better.”  
“Not interested. I am interested in who hired you to kill Amy Rohrbach.”  
“Oh? Worried about your girlfriend?”  
Nightwing snarled and his teeth clenched together audibly. “I want to know who hired you. And then I want you to get the hell out of my city.”  
“The city council hired me, but you already knew that.”  
Nightwing stayed silent. Waited. “I don’t leave a job unfinished, you know.”  
“Leave this one.”  
“I won’t get paid.”  
“I highly doubt that you’re hurting for money. Besides, do you really want to kill somebody in Bludhaven? Bats and his merry brood of Robins are just across the river, and they are already investigating me. I’m sure you’re aware that Red Hood is skulking around here somewhere. Do you really want the rest of them here all up in your business? I know that I don’t.”  
Deathstroke smirked, and it took all of Nightwing’s self restraint not to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. Giving one last snarl, Nightwing stood up. “Leave my city and never come back. And if a hair on Amy’s head is injured, I’ll make sure that I hurt you in the same way. You still have one kid that’s alive don’t you?”  
Nightwing knew that it was dangerous to threaten Rose, but he would do what he had to to keep Amy safe. Not that he would ever harm a hair on Rose’s head unless they were sparring. But Deathstroke did not know that. “Don’t threaten my child unless you want to meet a fate worse than you can imagine.”  
“I am already living a fate worse than you can imagine. But let me make something clear, I won’t touch her, won’t even get near her, as long as you leave my city.”  
“You are quite interesting. Until we meet again.”  
Nightwing watched as he stepped into the shadows and seemed to melt into the darkness behind him. Nightwing waited a few moments before sitting down and letting out a deep sigh. He would give himself five minutes to get his head on straight before he went and gathered evidence against the city council and delivered them to the police station. Five minutes to freak out. Five minutes to remember that despite how he acted, everything was not okay.   
###  
Red Hood watched silently. Interesting. Very interesting. He would have to look into it, but by the looks of things, Nightwing and Deathstroke had history. He would wait to tell Batman. The man would use it as an excuse to crucify the new hero, and Red Hood was positive that that would be a mistake. The real question was what the history entailed and whether or not he actually wanted to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“I’m telling you Timbuktu, the guy has a history with Deathstroke. And not the ‘we slept together once and now it’s just awkward’ kind of history. Real history.”  
“You’re seeing things again Jason. Or do I have to remind you about the time that you swore you saw someone steal a costume from the cave but nobody could find anything missing? Even the prototypes were all accounted for.”  
“I stand by the fact that somebody was in the cave that night and they stole something. But this is different. Nobody reacts the way he did if they don’t know the other person. And nobody does that well against Deathstroke on their first time. And I don’t know what he said, but whatever it was, made Deathstroke leave without taking out his target. Tell me that that is not strange.”  
Tim sighed, and for the first time since the conversation started, he turned his desk chair around so that he’s fully facing Jason. Steepling his fingers, Tim leaned slightly forward and looked his brother fully in the eyes. “What do you want me to do, Jason? I assume that you took this information to me instead of Batman for a reason?”  
“You and I both know that it is easy to get on the ‘I don’t trust you and I never will’ list. I like the guy. He has issues, sure, but don’t we all? Besides, he gives me an excuse to leave Gotham and the suffocating helicopter mentoring that Bats tends to dole out. I just don’t want to make a hasty decision on this guy.”  
“So I repeat. What do you want me to do?”  
“I don’t know. Look at any job that Deathstroke’s had in the last five years and see if maybe there is a devastated family member that watched it happen? The Boss Man wants this guy’s identity, but he’s damn good. He knows how to lose me before he reaches his home base. Always seems to know when I’m watching him too. I swear, sometimes he does extra flips like he’s showing off to me. And one time, he blew me a kiss. I was hiding in an air vent. Hadn’t moved for thirty minutes, and he just turns and blows me a kiss. I bet he winked too. Fucking bastard.”  
Tim sighed. “I’ll look into Deathstroke’s recent jobs, but I can already tell you Jason, that it will be highly unlikely that I find anything.”  
Jason ran a hand through his hair, his lips twitching into what could be considered a frustrated snarl. “I know. I should go and finish the crap I have to do before heading off to Bludhaven.”  
Tim watched as Jason walked out of his room, only calling his name when he was at the doorway. When his older brother paused, Tim spoke his thoughts slowly, well aware that if he messed up his wording, his brother might fly into one of his infamous rages. “Just be careful with this guy, alright? You said that he might have won against Deathstroke if they continued fighting, even without your interference. That says something about him. He’s good. Really good. I trust you when you say he’s a nice guy, but exercise caution. Nobody wants to see you end up in a bodybag.”  
“Again.”  
Tim winced, he hated when Jason brought up his death, and all of his issues that came along with it. Jason smirked at him, like he knew that he had made his younger brother was suitably uncomfortable. “I got it covered. The guy fights with sticks, I’d like to see how he reacts to being shot.”  
Jason sauntered away, leaving Tim to deflate in his desk chair. Leave it to Jason to bring up guns and being shot at. Whatever, he expressed his concerns. Now if Nightwing beat up Jason, Tim would have the immense pleasure of being able to say ‘I told you so.’  
###  
Dick Grayson shifted uncomfortably. All the cops in the city had been called in for a meeting, but their boss had yet to show up. Despite his occupation, he did not like being surrounded by the entire Bludhaven P.D., it made him anxious and paranoid.   
Licking his lips, Dick dug around his pockets for a piece of candy. Bruce would tell him that he needed to lower his sugar intake, and Alfred would give him a disappointed look for daring to eat such ‘manufactured rubbage’ but Dick had found that sugar calmed his nerves almost as much as jumping off of high buildings. Somehow calming his nerves seemed more important at the moment than disappointing the imaginary Bruce in his head.  
A hush fell over the room, and Dick looked up. Speak of the devil. In strolled the BPD Commissioner and Bruce Wayne. Their eyes met, and Dick found himself captivated by his father’s blue eyes. Eyes that people had often said were so similar to his own. Eyes that were observing him just as intensely as Dick was observing him.   
Forcing himself to look away, Dick ended up studying his shoes. He wanted to leave. He wanted to vault out of the window and hide somewhere far away from those knowing eyes. Bruce knew something, but what was the true question. It certainly wasn’t that Dick was his first charity case. Perhaps he knew that Dick was Nightwing, though that was also unlikely. He had been so careful, and he was almost positive that Red Hood had no idea who he was, or where he lived. Or perhaps, the knowing look was due to the Batman coffee mug he had in his hand. It was his second favorite mug, well technically his new favorite because Red Robin had never returned his Superman mug. The little punk.  
Vaguely, he heard the Commissioner making a speech to introduce their guest. He snuck a look at Bruce, and found that his father was still observing him, though he wasn’t being quite as blatant about it. Once again, Dick looked away. He felt like he was once again in high school, avoiding Bruce’s knowing gaze the morning after he had snuck out to go to a party, one that Bruce had said that he couldn’t attend.   
Dick’s thoughts snapped back to the present when he heard Bruce begin to speak. He spoke about the recent events in Bludhaven. About the arrests made in the Mayor’s office and the city council. About the corruption. And about the money he was raising and donating to the police department so that everybody got a raise, they could hire fifty new officers, and their gear could get an update, though his specified that it was all life saving gear such as kevlar vests, and not guns.   
As Bruce continued to speak, probably some sort of dry joke and finishing remarks, Dick’s ears began to ring. It was just too hard to be in the same room as him. He could handle his brothers and even Bruce’s alter ego. But Bruce, when he was just plain old Bruce, was different. Bruce had rescued him from the Gotham Juvenile Hall and his evil social worker. Bruce taught him how to live with the unbearable pain that was in his chest, and ironically enough, how to let it go. Bruce had fumbled his way into his heart, and had never left. No matter the fight, the amount of hurt and anger and resentment, they always found their way back to each other. Bruce was his hero, and it hurt to have him so close and yet so far away.  
Dick barely noticed when the room started to buzz with people talking to one another as they slowly started to file their way out of the room. Nor did he notice that he he had sank down to the ground from his position leaning against the wall. He didn’t notice anything until a pair of expensive Berluti Scritto leather shoes stopped right next to his feet.   
###  
There was something about Dick Grayson that drew Bruce’s attention. He could be crass and bold and brave, and yet, he could look so very lost. Bruce could not pinpoint what exactly drew him closer to the cop on the ground, he usually did his very best to avoid cops unless it was absolutely necessary that he interact with them. The young man did not seem to register his presence until he stopped and crouched right in front of him.   
There was something painstakingly familiar about the broken look in his blue eyes. Something that Bruce swore he saw before. He didn’t dwell on it. He couldn’t. Instead, he sat down next to the young man. “Are you okay?”  
Those haunted eyes turned to look at him with burning intensity. Bruce found himself turning away, and surveying the now empty room. After a moment of hesitation, Dick gave him a small smile. A fake smile. “Of course. I’m sorry that I worried you, I’m just feeling a little faint. I’m hypoglycemic.”  
When Bruce didn’t answer right away, Dick seemed to assume that he didn’t know what hypoglycemic meant. “I have low blood sugar. I just need to eat something.”  
Bruce knew that he was lying. There were no obvious tells, in fact there were none that Bruce could discern at all. It was just a feeling that Bruce got. That feeling, along with the fake smile was enough for anybody to be suspicious, let alone the world’s greatest detective. Bruce didn’t call him on it, instead choosing to dig through his pocket.   
Giving Dick an awkward smile, Bruce offered him a protein bar. Dick looked down at it with a shocked expression, before raising his eyes to look up at Bruce. That shocked expression was filled with childlike wonder and something like confusion, like he wasn’t used to being taken care of.  
Awkwardly, Dick shook his head. “It’s okay. I have a stash of candy in my desk.”  
“This is better for you.”  
“You’re not my father. Please don’t act like it.”  
There was something almost pained about the way that Dick said that. Bruce pinched his lips slightly. That was interesting. When he had researched Dick Grayson, he had traced the man back to Star City, but had been unable to trace the man further. There was a mention of him being raised in the foster system, and getting his GED, but Bruce had been unable to trace when and where. Unfortunately, Dick Grayson was probably just another kid who had been lost in the system.   
“Okay.”  
“Thank you. I’ll take that protein bar now.”  
Bruce hid his smile, handing over the bar without complaint. They sat for a while in compatible silence before Dick stood up with a groan. “As nice as the company is, I better go. I have murders to investigate and donuts to eat.”  
Bruce smiled, giving a small wave to the young man before he disappeared around the corner. Bruce didn’t move to get up from his spot. There was something about Dick Grayson that made him feel like he was forgetting something important. But he wasn’t. Unless he wasn’t the only one forgetting. Which was impossible.  
Bruce’s thoughts were promptly interrupted and forgotten when the police commissioner walked in. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you all over. What are you doing there?”  
“I’m just taking it all in.” Glancing around the room one last time, Bruce stood up and brushed off his pants before moving towards the commissioner. With one last glance at the room, Bruce left. He had money to donate and reporters to appease.  
###  
Barbara entered the Wayne Manor like a hurricane. This was impossible. There was no way that this was happening. Jason raised an eyebrow when he saw her face before simply turning to the stairs and yelling, “Tim? Damian? Which one of you pissed off Barbara? It sure as hell wasn’t me this time!”  
When Tim came stumbling down the stairs, the poor boy probably just woke up, Jason gave her a small smirk before walking away with a two finger salute. Barbara waited impatiently tapping her fingers on the arm of her wheelchair.   
Tim gave her a sleepy smile. “Hey Babs. What’s the emergency?”  
“I can’t find anything! That’s never happened before!”  
“You mistake me for knowing what the hell you are talking about.”  
“You asked me to look into that satellite for you. Remember?”  
Tim blinked. Before slowly nodding. “Sure. I remember? But I don’t follow.”  
Barbara sighed deeply. Why couldn’t Tim follow along? Perhaps the lack of sleep and caffeine addiction had killed some of his brain cells and he was no longer a genius. Being sure to speak slowly and enunciate clearly, Barbara said, “I can’t find any evidence of this satellite existing. Anywhere. Period. And I’ve looked everywhere. No rocks unturned or whatever the expression is.”  
“Seriously? Have you checked for private satellites? Some rich people like the idea of owning something in space you know.”  
“When I say no rock unturned, I mean that I’ve looked everywhere. Whoever made that satellite did not leave a papertrail.”  
Tim looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by a cough. Damian stood at the top of the stairs before ‘regally’ walking down them. He made them wait until he stood before them, a few steps up so that he was taller than Tim. “On to more important matters. Gordon, have you found the locations of Mad Hatter and Scarecrow?”  
“Hate to break it to you Shortstack, but they aren’t in Gotham.”  
“That much was obvious by the lack of victims. I’d like to know where they are currently so that I may retrieve them.”  
Barbara couldn’t help the small smile that escaped her lips. The kid was just too cute when he wasn’t flying into homicidal rages. “I don’t know. I do, however, know that the rumor from the surviving Arkham guards is that they were getting pretty chummy before the breakout. Wherever they are, they are probably together.”  
“Thank you Gordon, that was most unhelpful.”  
Barbara watched amused as the kid stomped his way back up the stairs. Tim must have mistaken her look for questioning, because he jumped to explain that Alfred and Bruce were trying to instill manners in him by making him practice saying please and thank you, even when he didn’t mean it.   
“Well he is right about one thing, I didn’t exactly give him the news or information he was hoping for.”  
“He’ll live. Want to join me in the cave? I think that it’s time we request that Aquaman sends a team down there to take photos of the satellite remains.”  
“Sounds like a plan. Make sure you ask that they log all debris within a five mile radius. Some of the pieces may have fallen off before impact.”  
“I know. I was also thinking that they should use the new experimental Wayne Tech scanning device to make a three dimensional rendering of the crash site, and potentially, if my program works, it should be able to take the pieces of the satellite and rebuild it to its original splendor. Granted, it would only a three dimensional holographic rendering, so any functions of the satellite wouldn’t work, but it would give us an idea of the its purpose. It would also tell us which, if any parts of the satellite I’d like to have brought to the cave.”  
“I guess you didn’t lose all of your brain cells after all.”  
“Wait, what?”  
Barbara rolled her eyes. “Nevermind. Now, I know for a fact that Alfred made his lemon poppyseed scones last night, I think I’ve earned a treat. We can call Aquaman after.”  
“Deal.”  
###  
Amy watched Dick with a frown. He had been weird ever since Bruce Wayne had visited in the morning. He was spacing out and seemed to be lost in his own world. It wasn’t like Dick didn’t like the guy. She had seen him talking with the man and he seemed normal. And it wasn’t like Bruce Wayne was Lex Luthor. He was a good guy. Or at least he appeared to be, especially as he had adopted all those orphans.   
She debated saying something when Dick shoved another mint in his mouth. The man had literally been shoving mints into his mouth since he had exited the room. Almost like he was trying to wash the taste of something out of his mouth.   
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Dick? Are you okay?”  
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”  
Amy waited to see if he would elaborate, but he didn’t. Instead, he popped another mint in his mouth and chewed at it angrily. “Want to talk about it?”  
“Look, I can’t tell you about it, so just drop it.”  
Amy frowned, but didn’t push. Dick wouldn’t respond well if she did. Besides, he knew that she was there if he decided he wanted to talk. As it turned out, he decided to talk after five minutes of mint eating and tense silence. “Amy? Hypothetically, what would you do if the whole world forgot who you were?”  
“The whole world?”  
“Yeah. Everybody in the world forgot you. Your friends, your family, everybody that you once knew. Everybody you once loved. Just everybody.”  
“Dick, where are you going with this?”  
Dick shrugged. His shoulders tense. “Just answer the question.”  
Amy sighed loudly and pursed her lips. “In this hypothetical world, everybody forgets about me?”  
“Yes. They can interact with you, and form new memories with you, but basically the whole world has amnesia when it comes to you, and only you.”  
“That’s impossible.”  
“Which is why it’s a hypothetical question.”  
Dick wasn’t going to let this go. “I don’t know what I would do Dick. I guess I would find myself lost. I don’t know if I would reintroduce myself to my family. On one hand, I would hate to be away from them, on the other it would be physically painful for me to be around them when they don’t recognize me.”  
Dick nodded slowly. “I would try to stay away from my family too. But I don’t think I would be able to help myself. I would chase that split second that I could fool myself into thinking that they recognized me. I’d go through all the pain for that split second of hope. How messed up is that?”  
Amy was frozen. She didn’t know what to do or say. Not when Dick seemed this, well out of it. He looked like he was breaking into thousands of pieces. Like he was dying on the inside. “Dick. Why don’t you go home for the day. I think that you could use a nap, or at the very least, a break.”  
“Fine. Sure. Whatever. I got a few phone calls to make anyways.”  
Amy watched with worried eyes as Dick grabbed his jacket, keys, phone, and wallet before sweeping out of the police station. His shoulders were hunched in a way that appeared like he was trying to make himself smaller. Amy could only hope that he was better in the morning.  
###  
Nightwing dangled his feet over the edge of the building. He wished that Bludhaven had gargoyles to hang out with, but it wasn’t like he could convince the city that the addition of gargoyles was necessary for the sanity of the local hero, so that he had something to talk to. Luckily, before he could get too far into imagining that mental conversation, Red Hood sat down next to him.  
“You’re late.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
Nightwing turned to face Red Hood, crossing his legs in the lotus position. “It means, you arrive in this city at precisely 8:30 p.m. every single day, though you do tend to find me at different times. Probably in an attempt to confuse me or throw me off of your pattern. Today, you arrived at 8:49 p.m. You were speeding quite a bit, so my guess is that you would have arrived at 8:57 p.m. if you had been going the speed limit.”  
“You have eyes on me?”  
“Well, you were sent into my city to observe me and find out my identity. It’s only fair that I observe you back, don’t you think? But don’t worry, I only kept track of your comings and goings.”  
“You’re good. I didn’t even notice.”  
“You’re just as good, and you know it.”  
Nightwing watched in faint amusement as his younger brother cocked his head to the side. He could just imagine that underneath the helmet, he was squinting his eyes and trying to get a read on him. Though even he could admit that the next words that left his younger brother’s mouth surprised him. “You never told me what happened with Deathstroke.”  
“I wasn’t aware that I needed to report to you. You were watching, after all.”  
Red Hood seemed stunned by his knowledge and perhaps a little bit ashamed, so Nightwing decided to let him off the hook. “Not that I minded. I wouldn’t have been happy if you interfered.”  
“You going to tell me what you said to get him to leave?”  
“No. Let’s just say that we came to an understanding. I will tell you that I won’t be on his Christmas card list for a very long time though.”  
“Hmmm.”  
“Anything else on your mind?”  
Red Hood paused for a second, as if debating asking the next question. Nightwing knew that there was only one question left worth asking. “What’s your history with Deathstroke?”  
“I’ll tell you this because I like you. My history with Deathstroke is just that, my history. It’s the kind of history that you shove into the deepest part of your mind, and pray you forget. I’m sure that you have something just like that too, and I highly doubt that you would want me to pry. Red Robin will be unable to find anything on it, and I’d prefer it if you did not bring it up again.”  
There must have been something about the way that he was looking at his younger brother, because the man held up his hands in surrender. “Alright. I get it. Now that we fought and made up, wanna go grab a beer?”  
Nightwing snorted. “Are you even legal?” He knew for a fact that his brother was not.   
“You really think that I’m younger than twenty-one?”  
“Looks can be deceiving. You know that better than anyone, former Boy Wonder.”  
Red Hood laughed slightly, but it wasn’t real. Nightwing would bet anything that he had a calculating look in his eye. “Well aren’t you full of surprises tonight. But that’s common knowledge, so I can hardly be impressed.”  
Nightwing was saved from responding when a large number of terrified screams sounded. Seconds later, there was an explosion, engulfing an entire building in flames.   
Red Hood turned to him slowly. “Is that?”  
“City Hall. I’m afraid the beers will have to wait until you’re twenty-one. Let’s go.”


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nightwing couldn't help himself. He froze on the rooftop opposite of City Hall and took in the scene below him. Red Hood stopped next to him, and even with the red monstrosity that he called a helmet on, Nightwing could hear the quick intake of breath as he surveyed the scene.

People weren't acting in the usual manner when there was an explosion, they were not running away, trampling the people who had fallen. Instead, they were snarling and screaming, fighting and stabbing each other. Nightwing clicked a button on the side of his mask and zoomed in on the scene below him. Next to him, Red Hood was doing the same thing. It was strange. The people had genuine fear in their eyes as they brawled with the people around them. They weren't even fazed by the burning building, it was as if the people around them served the greatest threat. Red Hood read his mind, "What the ever loving fuck?"

"Ditto. Let's make sure the building is clear."

"Agreed. After we make sure everyone is out, we can start establishing a perimeter in case the building comes down, and wow, I sound way too much like Red Robin for comfort."

"Sounds good. And Hood? Be careful. Those people down there seem to be a little stabby."

"No shit Sherlock. But, uh, you too."

Hood swung down to the street and waded through the chaos, running into the burning building like the hero he was. Nightwing took a moment to revel in the concern that his younger brother had just showed him, concern that his brother had always been careful to conceal even when he remembered just how they were related. All in all, he only gave himself five seconds to submit to the warm and fuzzy feelings before shoving a rebreather in his mouth and diving off of the building.

###

The smoke was thick and consuming. Red Hood was glad that his helmet covered his whole head and had an air filtration system. He didn't know where Nightwing was exactly. They had split up to cover more ground, with Red Hood taking the main floor and basement, and Nightwing taking floors two and three. All he knew was that the man was wearing a rebreather, one that looked shockingly similar to the ones that Batman, Robin, and Red Robin used. Perhaps he had stolen it. Not that he actually cared. He'd probably buy the guy a round if he'd actually managed to pull one over the Bat and co. Not that the man would except a round bought by someone who was 'under twenty-one.' How he knew that he was technically too young to drink, Red Hood would never know. Though he would pester the man relentlessly once this whole mess was resolved.

The whole building creaked, the fire popping and spitting around him. Grimacing, Red Hood checked the last room in the hallway. He needed to hurry up his search before the building came down on him.

Hearing a screech, Red Hood jerked around to see a young woman crouching in the corner of the room. She pressed herself further against the wall as he approached, screaming the whole damn time. She must have heard some of the less savory gossip about him. Not all of it was true. Most of it was true. Okay, so all of it had at least some truth to it.

Ignoring the screams, Red Hood chucked her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He quickly regretted that action when she imbedded a shard of glass into his shoulder. Switching her over to the other shoulder, Red Hood ripped the glass out of his shoulder and gave it a disgusted look before throwing it to the ground. The kevlar of his uniform was thick enough that the cut would not require sutures. But she did ruin a perfectly good leather jacket.

The woman thrashed in his grip, pounding on his back with her fists and kneeing his chest and stomach with all her might. "Cut it out lady. I'm not such a nice guy that I won't leave you in the burning building if you don't stop."

She settled momentarily while he was talking, but the second he stopped she started thrashing harder than she had been previously. Resigning himself to his fate, Red Hood carried her out of the building, depositing her just outside of the brawling citizens. He wasn't sure, but it looked like more people were there fighting. On the bright side, emergency crews were there, paramedics making a triage center, firefighters working on the building, and cops attempting to break up the fight.

Red Hood debated entering the building once again. He hadn't cleared his section, but the Bludhaven F.D. was here, so perhaps he should let them do their jobs, and get the city under control once again.

The decision was taken from him when the building groaned loudly before the top floor seemed to cave in. Red Hood could only watch as City Hall partially collapsed. Nightwing was nowhere in sight. He must be still in the building. Red Hood started forward, ready to run into the burning building that was likely to fall on his head for a guy he barely knew. He couldn't figure out why, and he hated emotions and soul searching, so it was unlikely that he would determine the reasons anytime soon.

Red Hood was just about to shove his way past the firemen and into the building when Nightwing proved himself to be a dramatic fuck and appeared out of the smoke one arm slung around the waist of a woman, half carrying her, and his other arm holding a toddler on his hip. Both were screaming and weakly struggling to get away from him. He brought them over to the triage center before sauntering over to Red Hood a pleased smile on his face. "You were about to run into a collapsing building to save me!"

"No I wasn't."

"You're right. You were about to run into a collapsing building on fire to save me!" Red Hood rolled his eyes as Nightwing practically danced around him and looked very much like the cat that ate the canary.

"Whatever Wingnut. See if I want to save you next time you need it."

"You're my knight in shining armor, Little Wing."

Little Wing. That dreadful nickname was so familiar. He had the strongest sense of deja vu that he had ever had. It made his skin crawl and his stomach churn. What the hell? Why did he know that nickname? And who the hell came up with it? They needed a serious lesson in creativity.

Nightwing seemed to notice his discomfort at the name and stiffened to the point that his muscles must have started cramping. That in itself was odd. The sound of breaking glass broke him out of his train of thoughts. They could deal with this later. Right now, they had to deal with the chaos that the bombing released on the city.

Nodding to the roof of the opposite building, Red Hood shot his grappling gun. Nightwing was a split second behind him. Red Hood dug into one of the pockets on his utility belt, tossing the content to Nightwing. "Take this."

"A comm?"

"Yes."

"A Bat comm?"

"I guess?"

"No thanks."

Red Hood was glad that his helmet covered his face because it kept Nightwing from seeing the gobsmacked look on his face when Nightwing tossed the comm unit back at him. "Why? We're gonna have to split up again to take care of the chaos that the bombing unleashed. This way we can still communicate with each other."

Nightwing caught the comm unit when it was tossed back at him, giving it a distasteful look. "Yeah, no. I might like you, but the last thing I need is you guys listening in on my conversations and keeping tabs on me."

The comm unit was once again tossed back to Red Hood. "Nobody's gonna listen in on you. If you're that paranoid, we can use channel five, the family knows that that's my personal frequency. I use it for when I team up with Starfire and Arsenal."

Red Hood threw the damn comm unit back at Nightwing, hoping that his words had ended this ridiculous debate. "I know all about your all seeing Oracle. I highly doubt changing comm frequencies is gonna do anything." Apparently, the debate was still going, and Nightwing wasn't quite as oblivious to the going ons of Gotham as he sometimes appeared to be.

"You really think that she doesn't already know everything there is to know about you?" It was a bluff. Despite being a not-so-evil, evil genius, Oracle hadn't been able to find a single thing on the Bludhaven vigilante. Whoever he was behind the mask, he was very careful and meticulous about keeping his identity hidden.

Nightwing gave him a deadpan look. "I have my own ways of getting information. Even in Gotham. You guys don't have a thing on me, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Fine. Don't use it on a normal basis. Just today. Besides, you said you had a thing for redheads, right? Oracle is a kickass, gorgeous, and brilliant, redhead. Totally your type, don't you think?"

Nightwing let out a boisterous laugh that lit up his whole face. "Fine. You win. Give me the damn comm unit. If I get an autographed photo of Oracle, I might even consider keeping it after this mess is cleaned up."

"I doubt that will happen."

Nightwing fiddled with the comm before expertly sliding it into his ear. Interesting. "Shame. I'll go take my disappointment out on the looters by First Street. Think you can handle Park Avenue?"

"Sure thing, Boss."

"Don't call me that. I'll see you later. I'll even buy you a virgin drink."

"You're a lame ass loser who has never had fun in his life. And I'm willing to bet that you are also a hypocrite. No way you waited until twenty-one to first have a drink."

Red Hood waited momentarily for a response before realizing that Nightwing was long gone. Letting out a dramatic sigh, the bastard had the comm unit in so it wasn't like he didn't have an audience, Red Hood walked to the edge of the roof before simply tipping forward. He allowed himself to freefall until the very last second before shooting his grappling gun and swinging across the city. He had looters to scare to death.

###

Nightwing stopped more than a few looters, all of them convinced that the apocalypse was starting. He was kind of surprised. He expected it to be business as usual, people in Bludhaven were used to things exploding and buildings collapsing. Granted, it had never been City Hall before. Then again, everything about this case was strange. Why had the people outside and inside the building been so damn terrified? And what caused them to fight?

Also disconcerning was the sheer amount of text messages he was receiving from Amy and Robin. He was glad that the tech in his mask allowed for him to pull up text messages from both Nightwing's and Dick Grayson's cell phones, making it easy for him to know what was being sent and where.

Robin's text messages were politely inquiring about his safety and asking if he knew what exactly was going on in Bludhaven. As much as he wished to respond, his little brother would have to wait.

Amy's texts were different. She informed him that all off duty cops were being called in due to the explosion. He would have to figure out a plausable excuse for his absence later. Most of the messages were angry and he got the feeling that if he was in the same room as her, she would be yelling at him. It was the few text messages that showed concern that made his gut swirl with guilt.

Amy: Grayson, you're not responding. Where are you?

Amy: You were off tonight, so I hope you left your phone off somewhere

Amy: I'm not mad at you. Please respond

Amy: I'm at City Hall, there are a lot of injured people. Please text me so I know you're not one of the thirty-seven (so far) people matching your description.

Amy: Grayson, I love you, but you're driving me to an early grave. Please respond.

Amy: I have to focus on City Hall. CALL ME WHEN YOU SEE THIS!

On the bright side, Nightwing now knew what his excuse was going to be. On the not so bright side, Amy was absolutely going to kill him the next time that she saw him.

###

Barbara leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowed. There was nothing. Not one single detail when it came to this new hero. No paper trail. No money transfers. No mysterious disappearances and reappearances. Just plain nothing. If he wasn't in regular contact with Red Hood, she wouldn't believe that he existed.

Hood had finally managed to convince him to wear a comm unit, so she listened as he laughed, and suppressed a snort when he started to sing ' terribly off key the lyrics to 'Kung Fu Fighting.' If the sounds of flesh meeting flesh were any indication, he was actually hitting criminals in beat with the song.

"Was that a peal of laughter I hear? Way to feminine and pretty to be Hood's. You must be the brilliant, kickass, and gorgeous Oracle with the awe-inspiring red hair."

Barbara stilled. He must have heard her. "Oh? I won't disagree that I'm brilliant, kickass, and gorgeous, but who says I have red hair? It's statistically unlikely you know."

Nightwing huffed a small laugh, and Barbara's heart gave a little flutter. She had never even seen the guy, this was the first time she had even heard his voice, and she already had an inkling of a crush on him. Great. Just what she needed. "Well you have to have red hair, unless Red Hood was lying about you being my type. Was the only other vigilante I trust lying to me, Miss All Knowing Oracle?"

Well shit. Either she tells him about her red hair, or he loses trust in the one guy feeding them status reports. Though he had to know that. Nightwing had already verbally maneuvered her into a corner. There was no way that he wasn't intelligent enough to know that Hood was operating under Batman's orders.

"I have red hair. And what exactly did you say your type was?"

"Redheads who can kick my ass."

"Then I'm definitely your type."

Nightwing laughed, loud and carefree. "The real question is: am I your type?"

Barbara rolled his eyes. He was definitely flirting with her. "I don't know, are you?"

"You'd have to tell me your type first, gorgeous."

"I'm afraid you'll have to earn that information. It would help if you stood in front of a security camera so that I could get a good look at you."

"That would ruin the mystery and the intrigue! I think I like what we have right now. I don't want to ruin it because you took one look at me and decided I'm not your type. I'll get you to fall in love with me long before you ever see my face, gorgeous."

Barbara was about to give him a witty yet flirty response when a loud throat clearing interrupted them. "As nice as it has been to listen to you two flirt, I'm gonna have to ask you to stop before I puke all over the pitchfork wielding mob in front of me. Apparently they're convinced that the apocalypse is coming. Something about only the upcoming apocalypse being able to rattle Bludhaven citizens. Apparently the destruction of City Hall should be business as usual and not a huge brawl with everyone screaming in terror."

"Where you at, Hood?"

"By the Costco. Apparently this is the place everyone goes in case of the apocalypse."

"I'm on my way. Oracle, I'd appreciate if you stopped listening in on us, and trying to locate me using security cameras."

The comm cut off. Barbara blinked in surprise. Who was this guy? He went from flirting and light-hearted to serious so quickly that her brain just couldn't keep up. She couldn't help it, a small smile blossomed across his face. One thing was for sure. Whoever he was, he was certainly interesting.

###

Damian watched the news with a carefully blank expression. Bludhaven was a mess. City Hall was in ruins and the citizens were rioting. The reporters were showing footage of the officers attempting to calm the mass hysteria and the street fights. What worried Damian the most was that he had yet to see footage of Grayson.

The news reporter had earlier stated that Bludhaven was 'in a state of emergency' meaning that all first responders had been called in. The man had texted him in the morning stating it was his day off, but by now he should have been with Rohrbach in front of City Hall. Damian couldn't help but worry that Grayson was injured somewhere in an alley. Alone. Scared.

Perhaps he should put on his Robin costume and go to Bludhaven. He could potentially help with the looters while he searched for Grayson. It sure seemed like Bludhaven could use the help. Besides, he was Robin for far longer than the newest vigilante 'Nightwing.' He could potentially teach the man a thing or two. And figure out what Todd's strange fascination with the man was.

The man must know that he was thinking about him, because he got a text message a mere second before he got up from the couch.

Todd: Don't you dare come down here Demon Spawn.

Todd: We have this under control

Todd: He barely trusts me, he won't like it if I start inviting other vigilantes to his city without his permission.

Damian: My friend Officer Richard Grayson has yet to respond to my text messages. I am worried that his kind heart has lead to him being murdered in an alley

Todd: I'll let Nightwing know. He has a thing for that guy

Damian: A thing?

Todd: Don't worry. Your friend is not a redhead so he should be safe from Nightwing's charms.

Damian: As soon as the city is safe I shall meet this Nightwing and inform him that Grayson is my friend.

Todd: Please leave your sword at home when you inform him. Now stop texting me. I have a city to help save.

Damian: Imbecile. You texted me first!

Todd didn't reply, and Damian could just imagine the smirk that he wore underneath the ridiculous helmet that he wore. As much as it pained him, he would follow Todd's advice and wait. In all likelihood, Grayson was fine. He was probably just too busy to respond to Damian's text messages. He would respond when he had time. It would be fine. He just had to wait.

###

Red Hood watched as Nightwing dropped out of nowhere and knocked out the rioters around him quickly. The conscious rioters turned to Nightwing, stunned. Red Hood could certainly see why. With electricity sparking from the tips of his escrima sticks, and a dark expression on his face, he looked nothing like the happy-go-lucky hero that Bludhaven's inhabitants had come to know and love.

"I'm only going to say this once. You either go home right now, or I knock you all out and leave you tied to various flag poles around the city in your underwear. Choose wisely."

The rioters looked at each other nervously before throwing down their pitchforks and baseball bats. They shuffled backwards, slowly dispersing down the street, keeping a watchful eye on Nightwing.

Something dark and angry flitted across Nightwing's face. Red Hood had no idea why. He had sounded fine earlier when he was flirting with Oracle earlier. So what had happened to him between then and now?

The look vanished and a smile took over his face. "That was easier than expected." Nightwing positively chirped.

What the fuck. How did the man's moods change so fast? Or was he just so good at masking his emotions that Red Hood couldn't tell the difference between real and fake. And if that was true, just how often had the man hidden his true feelings without him noticing?

"Hey. You're offly silent and you just stiffened up. Is everything okay?"

Cursing in his head—why could he read him so well?—Red Hood shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. Just thinking. Robin is worried about Dick Grayson."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Apparently the dude's not answering his text messages right now."

"He could be busy."

"True. But the kid's really worried. Had to convince him not to come and search."

Nightwing frowned a little at that before he started chewing on his lip. Finally he let out a small sigh. "Look. I get why the kid's worried. And I can see that you care deeply for him, which is why you're worried about a guy that you never even met before. I don't think I can say or do anything that will put you at ease. But I can tell you that Dick Grayson is a fucking survivor. He won't go down without a hell of a fight, and even then, I'd never count him out. We can keep an eye open for him, but I can't honestly see him in an situation that he can't find his own way out of."

"Is that why you used him as your police contact? He reminded you of yourself?"

A smile quirked on his lips, and he looked like he was suppressing a laugh. "That was one of the reasons."

"And the others?"

"Are not nearly as interesting."

"And if I want to know?"

Nightwing grinned at him before exaggeratingly tapping his chin. "Hmm. I guess I'd tell you that you'd have to earn them."

Red Hood laughed. The voice modulator in his helmet making it sound mechanical. Nightwing grinned like he had been aiming to make him laugh. He looked way too pleased with himself, and some part of Red Hood itched to knock him down a peg.

Suddenly Nightwing stilled, his head tilting slightly to the side. A worried frown replaced the smile on his face and he looked like he was mere milliseconds away from beginning to pace. "We need to go. People are fighting in the hospital."

"More worried citizens worried about the upcoming apocalypse?"

"No. More like every single person in the damn hospital. Reports say that they barricaded the doors. Apparently, it's not just patients, but doctors, nurses and techs. Basically everybody in the damn building who is able to, is trying to kill the people around them."

"Shit."

"No kidding."

"What the hell is going on?"

"I have no clue. We can figure that out after we stop the the hospital from being the site of the next mass massacre."

"Agreed."

They both took off without another word. There was nothing left that could be said.

###

When they arrived at the hospital, Nightwing was not surprised to see that it was complete and utter chaos. Police were swarming outside and Nightwing was pleased to see that Amy was outside looking frazzled but otherwise okay. She seemed to realize someone was watching her, because she spun around and looked up, making eye contact with him. She gave him a brief nod before spinning back around and going back to whatever she was doing.

Turning to Red Hood, Dick nodded to the hospital. "We won't be able to go in traditionally, but I was thinking that we could find an open window."

"Can't we break a window or go through an air vent?"

"Windows are bullet proof and shatter resistant after the last shoot out at the bank across the street killed ten patients who were near closed windows. The air vents are too small for me to fit through, so unless you have something on that belt of yours that makes you shrink, there's no way in hell you can get through."

"Open window it is."

"That's what I thought. There should be an open window in the pediatric unit. I like to visit when I have time, so the kids know to keep the windows open."

Red Hood kinda just tilted his head like he was trying to process that information. Like he was trying to figure out just when Nightwing had time to visit sick kids.

Sure enough, they found an open window and crawled through. Immediately, the sounds of screams filled his ears. Children ran past them, their terrified wails filling the air. They saw the two vigilantes and started screaming harder, running away and crying. Some of the older kids were clutching needles and scalpels, holding them in a threatening manner.

Nightwing frowned. What the hell was going on? This was out of the ordinary, even for Bludhaven. Red Hood seemed to be equally perplexed. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"No. Have you?"

"No."

Nightwing frowned. He was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. His vision was dark around the edges, and he couldn't seem to focus on anything.

"Hey, are you feeling okay? You don't look so good."

Nightwing turned to face Red Hood only to see a hulking monster with spiny scales in his place. Before he could process the information, his body moved automatically into a back handspring to put some distance between the two of them. The monster seemed to hold his hands out in a placating gesture. It seemed like it was trying to talk to him, but all that he could hear were growls and grunts. Around him, small monsters ran around hissing and spitting. Nightwing blinked. This didn't make any sense, he was just in the hospital room.

The big monster made a move to get closer, and Nightwing took out his escrima sticks, turning on the electricity threateningly. The monster once again backed off. He had the sudden urge to attack it. To rip the monster to shreds, but he fought it. This didn't make any sense. He was in the hospital. Red Hood was right next to him.

Red Hood. He had been next to him before the monster appeared. Did the monster eat him. No. Nightwing would have noticed that. Then again, he hadn't noticed when the whole hospital floor was invaded by pint sized monsters and all the children went missing. Or perhaps, he was the one missing something. Perhaps the only thing in the room that changed was him.

Nightwing kept a watchful eye on the big monster while he dug out his rebreather. Sticking it in his mouth, he squinted at the monster trying to discern if it was a hallucination. He couldn't tell. Approaching it slowly, he reached his hand out to it's head. Instead of the spiny scales he was expecting to touch, he felt the smooth metal of Red Hood's helmet. Oh. The monster appeared to be talking to him but Nightwing couldn't understand him. Instead he went back to the open window and jumped out, grappling to a nearby rooftop.

The monster, Red Hood, Nightwing reminded himself, followed him. Nightwing took out his rebreather and started talking before Red Hood could say a word. "There's some sort of gas in there. It makes people look like monsters, and it makes you want to attack them. I'll be honest, I really feel like I should be driving one of my wing dings in your throat right now and it's taking everything in me to fight that feeling. I'm assuming your helmet has an air filtration system in it which is why you aren't affected. And before you try to answer that, you should know that when you talk, all I hear is grunt and growls."

Nightwing paused, gathering his thoughts. Red Hood waited, correctly assuming that he had more to say. Or perhaps, the man was trying to process all the information given to him. "Look, nothing like this has ever happened in Bludhaven, and right now I'm hallucinating things that make my skin crawl. If we are going to protect this city before there's another bombing or gas attack, or whatever the hell is going on, we're going to need reinforcements. So as much as I hate to ask this, call in your family. We need all the help we can get."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and more than that, I am sorry for the delay. Please comment!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Superman surveyed the gathered heroes around him. An emergency Justice League meeting had been called about the situation in Bludhaven. Batman hadn't shown up, but that was to be expected. The man was highly territorial and Bludhaven was way too close to Gotham for the man's comfort. He was probably waiting for the chaos to spill over the river.

Superman's attention was drawn back to the conversation when Oliver sighed loudly and crossed his arms. "I don't get why we can't just go to Bludhaven and take control of the situation. I mean we're the Justice League! People will understand if we butt in. And Nightbird, or Wingding, or whatever his 'name' is will understand. In fact, he probably will be thankful! Who wouldn't be?"

"We can't get involved in Bludhaven. We recently voted and unanimously passed an initiative that stated that the Justice League would not get involved in another hero's cities."

Wonder Woman turned to face him fully. "I was under the impression that that rule was only applied to members of the League. Small time heroes should not be solely responsible for major disasters without League assistance."

"I'd hardly consider the hero who is responsible for a forty percent decrease in crime in the most crime riddled city in the country to be a small time hero. The problem I see is that if we say we can interfere with non-League members, where do we draw the line? Next thing we know, we'll be interfering with League members with the justification that they aren't founding members. And then what? We become Batman? We interfere in everybody's business all the time? I don't want to go down that road. Besides, Red Hood is still keeping a watchful eye on Nightwing. If the two of them cannot handle it, I'm sure he will call in the Bat."

"Red Hood is not known for his love of his father. Are you sure that he will make the necessary call?"

Superman paused. She was right. Red Hood was not known for his relationship with Batman. In fact, it was the opposite. Red Hood was known to be highly irrational when it came to anything involving Batman. However. "Red Hood may have a rocky relationship with Batman, a relationship that we have no right to judge, but I can truthfully say that he would never endanger civilians. Even if it means swallowing his pride and asking for the Bat's help."

"Do you truly trust him that much?"

"No. But I do trust Batman's judgement. He wouldn't let Hood wander about, let alone monitor a new hero if he didn't trust the man. Additionally, I'm positive that Batman is monitoring the situation carefully. He'll let us know if we're needed. For now, we just have to wait."

Superman let out a small sigh. Knowing that all of them hated to watch and wait more than anything. They were heroes. They were supposed to be proactive. "Does anyone have anything else that they'd like to bring to our attention?"

###

Red Hood surveyed the room around him carefully. There was not a single doubt in his mind that this was one of a number of safe houses that Nightwing had in Bludhaven. Even in his current state, there was no way that he would willingly bring him to his home. A place where his secret identity would be revealed after minimal snooping. That said, the safe house that he was brought to was probably one of the nicer ones. There was a full medbay, and a computer that most likely linked to Nightwing's main frame.

Nightwing stumbled over to a cabinet filled with medical supplies withdrawing a syringe and a tourniquet. Expertly, he unzipped the upper half of his costume and peeled it off. Tying the tourniquet, he gave Hood a small smirk before sinking the needle into to crook of his arm. It only took a few moments for him to draw enough blood for what he needed. He shuffled over to the computer, unscrewing the needle from the barrel in the process.

Once at the computer, he screwed the barrel of the syringe into the little compartment, the blood immediately draining into the computer. The needle was thrown into the small incineration device. Red Hood glanced at the barrel, wondering if he would have a chance to collect the remains of blood after the tests were complete. All he needed was a single drop of blood to run a DNA test. Nightwing gave him a look, like he knew exactly what he was currently thinking, and hit another button on the council. A liquid squirted into the barrel, thoroughly cleaning the capsule and likely destroying any remaining DNA evidence. Well. So much for that idea. A little mystery was good for their relationship. Besides, Nightwing didn't know who he was, so their relationship was on somewhat equal footing right now.

Nightwing cleared his throat in a clear attempt to get his attention. "Did you call in reinforcements?"

Red Hood paused, debating. "Not yet, but I don't think he's gonna come. If we're lucky he'll send one of my brothers."

"Ten bucks says I can convince him. Call him."

"Deal," he said, simultaneously lifting his hand to his ear and clicking the small comm 'on' again. "Red Hood to the asshole in charge. Come in asshole."

"Red Hood."

"Requesting reinforcements in Bludhaven."

"You can have Red Robin. Robin and I are needed in Gotham."

Red Hood winced slightly before relaying the information to Nightwing. The hero's face clouded momentarily before he said, "Tell your mentor that he can either take a proactive stand and help us with the situation in Bludhaven before it makes its way into Gotham, or he can wait at the bridge like I'm sure he's doing until the chaos spills into his city most likely doubling his workload. Bludhaven may be a cesspool, but we don't have any crazies with powers."

"Hey. Not all our crazies have powers. Don't lump them all together."

"Just repeat the message, Hood."

"You got all that Bossman? Or do I need to repeat it?"

"Fine. Batman out."

Once again, Red Hood relayed the information to Nightwing. Nightwing gave him a Cheshire Grin before wiggling his eyebrows. "Told you I could convince him. I'll take my ten dollars in single bills. There's a vending machine where I work."

"Smug is not a good look on you."

"Yes it is. Everything looks good on me."

"You're an ass."

"Well they say that you are what you eat."

Red Hood blinked for a second before letting out a startled laugh. "Man, that was dirty. You caught me by surprise, I was not expecting that."

"I'm not innocent, you know."

"Could've fooled me."

"I was a teenage boy at one point you know."

"Wow. I'm surprised you remember that. That must have been so long ago!"

Nightwing's lips twitched before he let out a loud and carefree laugh. "True. It does feel like a few lifetimes ago. Have to say that I never thought I'd make it past eighteen."

"Same. And in a literal sense. I didn't."

Nightwing frowned and sighed, like he knew exactly what Hood was talking about. Which was impossible, wasn't it? Unless Nightwing knew about what happened with the Joker. Or worse, he knew who they were.

Nightwing let out a louder sigh and rubbed a hand down his face. "It was nice while it lasted. For a moment, I forgot about the hallucinations."

"Back with a vengeance?"

"Like an ex-girlfriend who's mad you moved on already."

"Yikes. That bad? Did the blood sample come up with anything good?"

"Not yet."

Red Hood pursed his lips, the helmet masking the expression. Nightwing wasn't doing good. That much was obvious. Whatever the drug was, it was messing with his head. They needed the lab results to come back quick.

The comm in his ear crackled to life once again. "Red Hood. Red Robin, Robin, and I are entering Bludhaven city limits. We need directions to your current location."

Red Hood made a face. He didn't really remember how they got to the safe house. "Uh. Hold on a second."

Nightwing smirked slightly and held his hand out expectantly. Red Hood bit back a growl. "Use your own comm! You don't need my helmet for that!"

Nightwing pouted. Legitly pouted. "You take all the fun out of things. Fine. What channel?"

"Two."

Nightwing pursed his lips, but changed the channel on the comm. Once again, Red Hood noted that the motion was practiced. He had no idea who Nightwing was, but he certainly had used comm units before.

"Hello Bat Fam. My name is Nightwing and I will be in charge the directions for your trip today. Please keep your hands and feet inside your vehicles at all times. We will be using back alleys today, so keep the speed appropriate and don't run over any friendly homeless men or women."

"Enough."

Nightwing rolled his eyes. Leave it to Batman to ruin his fun. At least his precious, oldest younger brother thought he was funny. He nibbled on his bottom lip for a second before letting out a small breath. "Okay, where are you?"

"Passing the Whaling Museum."

"Okay. Follow Highway 61. You want to go to the Melville Section."

A few moments later, Batman grunted, which Nightwing took to mean that he was entering said area. From there it was a matter of telling them to go right, straight, left, at the appropriate moments. When they were a block away, Nightwing instructed them to turn into an alley, remotely opening a false wall that lead to an underground tunnel. They would end up under his safe house in the parking garage.

Scrunching his nose slightly, Nightwing stood up and gestured for Red Hood to follow him to the hidden elevator. It was really too bad that this safe house would have to be burned after this. It was one of his favorites despite the fact that it was in a crappy part of town. Well, most of Bludhaven was a crappy part of town, but this was an especially crappy part.

Once they reached the garage, Nightwing pulled off his glove and put his hand on the scanner. The scanner and voice recognition were required to enter or leave the garage. Batman originally helped make the safe house which means that the security was overly cautious. Another way to put it, is that the Batman is a paranoid son of a Bat.

The scan of his hand completed, Nightwing slipped back on his glove. Time for the voice recognition part of the process. Looking slightly embarrassed, Nightwing said, "How many members of the Bat Clan does it take to screw in a lightbulb. None, they like the dark."

Red Hood gave him a look. Nightwing wished that he could see his facial expressions, but unfortunately the hemet prevented that. Finally, Red Hood shook his head slightly. "You're something else."

"It's voice recognition."

"Sure, and phrase too."

"Yeah. But to be fair, I had that phrase programmed since long before I met you. I always thought it was funny."

"I wouldn't call that funny."

"Whatever. Buzzkill. You should be nice to me, I'm hallucinating awful things and suppressing the need to kill you."

"Sounds like my life on a daily basis. Suppressing the need to kill the little devil that is my youngest brother."

"The feeling is mutual, Hood."

Red Hood turned, facing the direction where Robin, Red Robin, and Batman appeared. Nightwing seemed nonplussed by the appearance of the heroes of Gotham, simply turning around and leading them back up the stairs to the main safe house.

The Bats followed behind them quietly, the silence slowly becoming more and more deafening the longer that it went on. Nightwing was the one who broke it. "Thank you for coming. We're running blood analysis on me currently to see what the gas is. Hopefully it finished while we were downstairs."

Sure enough, the computer screen broadcasted two different chemical formulas as well as their creator's police records. Nighting twitched slightly. He should have known. "Looks like I wasn't wrong to ask you to come in after all. It appears that two of your villains are loose in my city. Not that I blame you for letting them cross the river. Who would miss two freaks like Mad Hatter and Scarecrow?"

###

Batman surveyed the room carefully. Red Robin was mumbling something while concocting an antidote. Nightwing was watching him, something akin to fondness flitting across his face. He looked up, noticed that Batman was observing him before sending him a smirk. Batman wasn't sure what to make of that. Nightwing stretched slightly, seemingly showing off.

Batman turned his attention towards Red Hood. His eldest son was watching him curiously. He probably wanted to know what he thought of his new friend. That should have been obvious. Batman thought that his so called friend wasn't trustworthy, he was an assignment. They needed to find out who he was and what his motives were. That hadn't changed.

Red Robin let out a small whoop, drawing Batman's attention. "I think I just synthesized an antidote. It should reverse the effects of the gas. I can't believe how complex this is. If they weren't bad guys, I'd be impressed by their genius. First the fear gas transforms people surrounding the victim into monsters, and then the nanobots in the gas kick in. The nanobots force the victim to attack the people surrounding them. No wonder the streets were in chaos. Really, it's a wonder that you were able to fight the urge. It would have been a nightmare to have to fight someone as well-trained as you appear to be Nightwing."

Nightwing gave a non-committal hum, not willing to rise to the bait that Red Robin was setting. His little brother was not so subtlety trying to figure out who trained him. Too bad Nightwing wasn't willingly going to divulge that information. They could probably figure it out if they studied him, but the answer would bamboozle them.

"How about we focus on giving me that antidote. I don't want to have to hold myself back from killing you anymore."

Red Robin gave an embarrassed smile like he had forgotten that Nightwing was doused. Grabbing a small needle, he injected the serum into the crook of Nightwing's arm. It took a moment, but it started to kick in. Around him, his brothers seemed to return to their normal forms and he no longer had the urge to murder them.

Batman tilted his head. "You are ex-special forces."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his amusement contained and his facial expression neutral. "Oh?"

"Special Forces would give you the skills necessary to become a vigilante."

Red Hood snorted, before taking off his helmet. "Have you seen the guy fight? I wouldn't exactly say 'Special Forces.'"

Nightwing shrugged before nodding. "He has a point."

"Yet you did not deny that you were Special Forces."

Nightwing pursed his lips momentarily, not surprised at all that Batman didn't drop the subject. He just wished for once that the stubborn bastard would let it go like a normal human being. Then again, there was never a single being in the entire universe that called Batman 'normal.'

"You could say that I had specialized training."

"Once again, you failed to answer my question."

"And you're just going to have to deal with the fact that I am not going to answer your question at this point of time. Now if we were to build up the trust, if you were to treat me like an actual person, I might answer the question. Like if Red Hood were to ask me, the story might be different."

Nightwing gave his younger brother a pointed look, urging him to take the hint. Red Hood gave him a roguish grin, probably happy that he was about to help piss off Batman. "Hey Nightwing. Have you ever been employed by the military?"

"No. But I have worked for the government."

"So you were a spook."

"Sure. You could say that."

Nightwing grinned and turned to face Batman. "You see, it's not that hard."

Batman grunted, clearly not impressed by his impressive wit and humor. After a moment of silence Robin scoffed, clearly done with this conversation. "Are we going to focus on the real matter at hand? Now that Nightwing has been administered the antidote, we can actually focus on saving this damned city so that we can return to our own damned city."

Nightwing smiled. His youngest brother was so damned cute. He wished that he could take a picture of his small grumpy face. Or squish his little, chubby, chipmunk cheeks. It really was a shame that he would skewer him with his sword if he were to get that close to him.

"Your leadership skills are remarkable Robin. I bet you'll lead the whole Justice League one day."

"Ttt"

His brother was far too adorable. Maybe he had a meta gene that upped his cuteness factor through the roof. "Red Robin, how much of that antidote have you concocted?"

"Barely enough for you. I'm going to head back to Gotham and use the Batcave. I'll be able to create a bigger quantity there, probably of a higher quality too. No offense, but our equipment, and the chemical ingredients we have are of a much higher quality."

"None taken. While you do that, I suppose we will divide and conquer. We need to figure out where Scarecrow and Mad Hatter are holed up, and stop any further bombings."

"You think there will be more bombings?"

"There have already been two, which is more than I was expecting when I met up with Red Hood."

Red Robin gave a sage nod, his small smirk belying the innocent look on his face. "Explosions tend to follow my oldest brother around. He didn't tell you? Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Nightwing's heart hurt. He was the oldest brother, not Hood. Red Robin should be complaining about his penchant to be kidnapped or his obsession with cereal, or his circus roots. Red Robin was giving him an expectant look, like he was waiting for him to laugh. Nightwing forced himself to do so.

Red Robin looked pleased with himself, which made it worth it he supposed. Red Hood looked at him, as if he knew that he was faking it. That was worrying. He needed to put some distance between the two of them. He was getting too close. He couldn't afford to get emotionally tied to his younger brother. Not when he didn't know who he was. It would hurt too much in the long run. He may have some masochistic tendencies, but that was too much even in his books.

He shook himself out of his reverie. He needed to focus. Red Hood was currently putting Red Robin in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles across his hair. A thought flitted across his mind that he was glad that Red Robin had ditched the cowl for the mask. It suited him much better.

"Enough."

Batman's growl automatically made Nightwing's back straighten. The action may have been subtle, but he guaranteed that his family noticed. They were far too observant not to.

"Okay. Hood and I can keep the riots down. Batman and Robin can look for their psychos."

"No."

Nightwing looked at Batman, slightly shocked by the blunt refusal. "Okay, why not?"

"Robin and I don't know the city well enough to be effective."

"Fine. I'll take Robin. We'll quell the riots. You and Red Hood can look for Scarecrow and Mad Hatter."

Batman gave him the infamous Batglare but Nightwing remained unruffled. He waited until the Bat turned to the side with a swoosh of his cape. "Fine."

Red Robin looked between them before gesturing for them to once again go to the garage. "Glad that's settled. Can we go now?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes. He was so damn impatient. The again, Bludhaven was a mess and they should probably be paying some attention to it. Once again he lead the party to the garage, opening the door with his hand print and the voice recognition. Batman wasn't pleased by the phrase, but Red Robin found it hilarious.

Red Robin and Robin brought their own bikes, which was lucky. The last thing Nightwing needed was Robin riding on the back of his bike with him. It would be too much like old times. It was already too much like a blast from the past.

###

Robin stared at the black and blue clad hero next to him. They just stopped a robbery at a tech store. He was sitting on top of one of the obnoxious neon billboards, surveying the city for more riots. The hospital was cordoned off by the police, and the streets surrounding city hall were also blocked from public access. The public was warned to stay indoors with their doors locked.

Robin surveyed the hero next to him. His build was nowhere near as impressive as his father's or Red Hood's. He was lithe, and his style was far different from the ones he had seen before. The man's movements were graceful and acrobatic. One would expect that his movements wouldn't be powerful, but they were. They were also well-practiced. Whoever Nightwing was, he had been well-trained.

Nightwing turned to him with a small smile. He knew that he was being observed. He was very well-trained. Most people didn't notice when Robin watched them. He was too well-trained for them to notice when he was observing them.

Nightwing didn't seem to mind, not commenting at all. Instead he said, "There seems to be a guy rampaging down there. Wanna tie him to the lampost? I gotta make a phone call."

"To Grayson?"

"No. To Sergent Rohrbach."

"Oh."

Robin didn't stay for Nightwing to comment further. He jumped off the roof, and down to the man causing a ruckus on the street. It didn't take much effort to knock the man out and tie him to the lampost like Nightwing suggested. It would keep him immobilized until they were able to administer the cure.

When he returned to the rooftop, Nightwing was frowning at his phone.

"What is the problem, Nightwing?"

"She didn't pick up. That's odd. I can't help but feel like there's something wrong."

Robin scoffed. Nightwing was truly a moron if he thought that he would figure anything out without his help. He had been a hero much longer. He would allow Nightwing to stew for a while. Once Nightwing realized that he couldn't figure it out alone, he would share with him. Then Robin would use his superior intellect to solve Nightwing's problem.

For the meanwhile, he would solve another pressing matter. "Any word on Grayson?"

"No. Look kid, I told Red Hood this, but Richard Grayson can take care of himself."

"I'm not worried about him!"

Nightwing rolled his eyes fondly. "Huh. Sure sounds like you're worried."

"I'm not!"

He held his hands up in surrender. "Okay. Whatever. You're not worried. The point still stands. Richard Grayson is a survivor and there is no situation that I can't see him thinking his way out of. He'll be fine. If it makes you feel better, we can keep our eyes open."

Robin frowned. Grudgingly, he said, "Fine. That sounds acceptable."

"Good." Nightwing gave him a smile, and Robin couldn't help but give a small smile on return.

###

Batman stood on the tallest building of Bludhaven surveilling the city. Oracle was looking at building plans, transmitting the images into his cowl. Next to him, Red Hood was sitting quietly, probably looking at the same blueprints that he was. They had already gone to three separate locations that housed the likelihood of being the location that Scarecrow and Mad Hatter were holed up in.

So far, there was no other location worth looking into, though that would change soon with Oracle on the hunt. Turning to face his son, Batman inspected him. He seemed relaxed. More at ease than he had seemed in months. Then again, all of them had been tense for the last year. The reason for that, had yet to be discerned.

"You became his friend."

Red Hood turned to face him, tilting his head in acknowledgement. "I did."

"He was your assignment and yet you allowed him to become your friend."

"Have you met the guy? It's hard not to become his friend. And I did my job. I analyzed his motives. Judged just how dangerous he would be if he turned against us."

"Oh?"

"He's dangerous alright. But he's also a hero. Total boy scout. More so than Superman."

"He could be fooling you."

"You can't hide your morals. Not that well at least. Not from someone as well-trained as I am."

"Hm."

Red Hood knew him well enough to realize that that was a dismissal, turning to look out over the city. They sat together in comfortable silence for a few minutes before their commms crackled on. "Batman. I have another location for you and Red Hood to check out. Sending it to you now."

"Understood, Oracle. On our way."

###

Nightwing frowned, studying his phone. He sent Robin to stop a dispute again so that he could once again try to reach Amy again. This time, she picked up. "How are you doing?"

"Nightwing, you called in the Bats."

"The situation was getting a little too far out of hand for me to handle alone. You didn't answer me. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Good. I'm glad that you're okay, Amy."

"Amy? My name is Alice."

Nightwing's eyes widened before he hung up. Alice. She said her name was Alice. There was only one person that had an obsession with Alice.

Robin landing softly next to him. "You look like he's seen a ghost."

"She said her name was Alice."

"What?"

"She called herself Alice."

"Who?"

"Amy. She said her name was Alice."

"Mad Hatter kidnaps women to make them his Alice."

"I know. I think I know where they are."

Robin frowned, putting all the pieces together. "They're at the police station."

Nightwing nodded. He felt lightheaded with all the thoughts, the statistics, racing through his head. "The one place that nobody would ever think to look. And if Amy's under Hatter's control, then so are the rest of the police officers. Nobody's safe. And I just inadvertently let them know that we're onto them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!!! There are still more chapter available on FF.net so please check there if you are itching for more.
> 
> Please, comment, leave kudos, bookmark, and whatever else you can do on this website. I'm still learning how to use it, so please be patient!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay...So this is posted on FanFiction, so I decided to post it here too, because I really like the story. I'm not finished yet, but I will be posting about once a week until I catch up. Anyways...I hope you enjoy!!!


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